


Twin Devils

by Twin_Devils



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 08:26:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 84,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3045107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twin_Devils/pseuds/Twin_Devils
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Isn't it obvious?" Kaoru asked, twirling her light hair. Hikaru's warm breath fanned over her chilled skin, his face inches from her ear, "You're our toy," he whispered. And just like that, I knew I had just signed a contract with the twin devils.' Feedback wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Twin Devils

(a/n:First story, feedback appreciated)

(Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING)

Italic: Thoughts

Chapter One

Haruhi's POV

Somehow, through all the commotion and customers, I could still hear his voice above all. His light and cheerful laughter filled the air. For some reason, I kept looking over there like I was drawn to them.

He was so relaxed in the chair, back slouched, one knee bent and pulled to his chest, and the other stretched long beneath the table. On his left, an exact copy sat in his chair properly, pouring each yellow clad lady a steaming cup of commoner's coffee.

Throwing his head back, Hikaru laughed, slapping the table lightly, "I still remember when our mother took us on a tour of her friend's new chocolate factory. They just had huge piles of candy lying around! Kaoru went to town on the little chocolate elephants. I lost count after his fifteenth pile!"

Kaoru's face deepened a few shades of red, and he closed his eyes, looking away, "Hikaru!" He put the tip of his thumb on his lip, tears swimming in his eyes, "You promised not to tell them that..."

Hikaru's face suddenly became serious, and he stopped laughing, "I'm sorry Kaoru." He took his twin's face in his hands, standing over him. The smooth tips of his fingers brushed away the tears. They gaze at each other, in a trance. "You were so on a sugar high I got you to do anything," he whispered. "And the chocolate off your lips tasted so fresh. It was so adorable... I had to tell them. I'm sorry."

The twin blushed, staring back at Hikaru, "I forgive you..."

All the girls around them squealed, blushes blazing across their skin. I rolled my eyes, releasing a sigh. How are those two so popular? And why do those girls fall for them so easily?

I could see the glossy seal of tear drops peeking out of Kaoru's sleeve, and I almost snorted. Of course.

"Haruhi," a voice summoned me back to reality.

Turning back around in my chair, I looked around at the table of impatient girls waiting on me. I closed my eyes and put on my best smile, "I'm sorry ladies, I guess I just got distracted. I promise it won't happen again."

Of course, when all the ladies were ushered back to class, I was stuck with the clean up. Releasing a breath, I put up all the glasses and stacked the chairs.

"Haruhi," the collected dark prince Kyoya called, "come join us. We're looking over this week's costumer statistics."

Dragging my feet, I trudged over there slowly, hunched. "...Rich people..." I grumbled to myself.

All of the hosts were gathered around this chart optimistically, Kyoya pointing out the numbers and scales like a genius explaining a theory to monkeys. "All right. Now that we're all here, let's get started." He cracked the pointer onto the board, "Tamaki is still on top. He has brought in over 275 clients this week and his request rate is 70%."

Tamaki jumped out, spinning around on his toe, "Yay! Thank you for such good news, you know how Daddy loves good news!" He suddenly stopped, pointing at me, over dramatic as usual, "Are you falling for me knowing that I have many other feminine admirers?"

Before I could answer, both Hitachin twins had cornered me, wrapping their arms around my shoulders and leaning against me until the three of us were symmetrical, "We don't mean to ruffle your feathers, Boss but-" started Kaoru.

"-Haruhi would much rather choose both of us in a heart beat over you," finished Hikaru.

Tamaki paled, "HOW DARE YOU! I GOT WAY MORE CUSTOMERS THAN YOU SHADY TWINS DID!"

"Actually," pipped up Kyoya, scribbling in his little black book, "although you do have the highest request rate, Hikaru and Kaoru got the most improvement over the week. They have enhanced their rates up by 30%, added more benefits to their 'Brotherly Love Package', processed new cosplay ideas and advertised new swatches of clothing. They have really expanded their business and tried new things, so you and the twins are really actually tied."

The twins closed their eyes and smirked at each other over my head, "Is that so?Hear that, Kaoru?"

"Yes I did, Hikaru."

"IT'S NOT POSSIBLE! THERE'S NO WAY THAT I'M TIED WITH THOSE TWINS!" Tamaki screeched.

Hikaru and Kaoru untangled themselves from me and strode towards Tamaki's pouting form, their long legs carrying them smoothly. "That's just it, Boss-" They paused, and both of their eyes found mine, "-everybody needs an upgrade."

"On other hands," Kyoya continued. "Haruhi has also been getting more requests."

A fluttering ball of cuteness bounded into my arms, giggling and hugging me, "Great job, Haru-chan!" Honey complemented. The blonde laughed cutely and sat on my shoulders.

Mori, who moved as silent as a shadow and spoke twice as less as one, slid his fingers into my hair, ruffling it. His palm was warm against my scalp, but the motion was brotherly at best, securing. "Yeah," he said, agreeing with Honey.

I would've thanked them, but my mind was somewhere else entirely. I was replaying what the twins had said over and over again in my head: '-everybody needs an upgrade.'

For some reason, I thought that those words carried a deeper meaning.

The lunch bell rang and students rushed to the lunchroom, eager to get their pampered meals. I sighed, slowly shuffling out when each twin took an arm and elegantly whisked me off.

They showed me to a seat, patting my head and praising me like a dog, "Cut it off," I said as my phone rang. As I checked the screen, I was surprised to see my dad's name flash on the screen.

"Dad?" I answered slowly.

"Haruhi!" Dad shouted through the phone, causing me to wince and pull the phone away. "Oh I just called to give you some good news! You know how Daddy loves good news!"

My ears perked up, "Good news? What kind of good news?"

"Well, you remember when I told you about that job I had my eye on?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I remember."

My dad had been scouted out by an American agent and has eyes on a job in America with five times the pay and half the work.

Dad paused, "Well... My resume got accepted! They want me to come to America so that I can get through the final part of the job. But, I'm afraid that means that I must leave for a couple of months-"

"Months?! Dad, that's crazy!" I protested.

"I know that it's a long time, but this is a very good job and I need to discuss with you where you should be staying," he continued. "I was thinking one of your host club friends would help out. NOT THAT TALL BLONDE ONE THAT TRIED TO MOLEST YOU, YOU UNDERSTAND ME?! But one of the others should do just fine."

My mouth stood agape, unable to comprehend the conversation.

Apparently, my father took my silence for 'I agree' because he answered after a few seconds, "Yes, wonderful honey, but I really must go. I'll see you in a few months. Enjoy yourself darling! Love you!"

The call ended. I knew that, but my brain wasn't functioning right now. I was to stay without my dad for months. And with one of the guys from the host club. I sighed, and just plopped my head down and stayed like that. After a few minutes, the twins sat on either side of me, poking my head.

"Hey what's wrong?" Kaoru asked sincerely.

Hikaru poked my head, "You look bad. Like worse than before."

I didn't lift my head up, "Gee thanks. And for your information, my life is just ending."

"What's happening this time?" Hikaru asked as he took a bite of his tailored lunch.

I sighed. Might as well tell them. "My dad is gone for a few months and I have no place to stay." I slowly lifted my head up when I heard both of their spoons clatter down to their trays.

As I looked between the two of them, I saw the evil spin of their eyes, the wicked curve of their grin, the slow connection that left us believing that they could be devils. But I had no idea what in the world they could possibly be up to.

"You can come live with us," Kaoru suggested.

"Yeah," Hikaru nodded. "We have tons of empty suites and maids that will tend to your every whim."

Any other day, I would've turned down every rich person that offered charity, but I really needing housing. Sighing, I slowly nodded, "Alright. Alright... I'll stay with you guys. But why do you want me to stay with you guys?"

They just grinned at each other again, putting their arms around my shoulders again. "Isn't it obvious?" Kaoru asked, twirling her light hair.

Hikaru's warm breath fanned over her chilled skin, his face inches from her ear, "You're our toy," he whispered.

And just like that, I knew I had just signed a contract with the twin devils.

A/N: Well, well, well. I don't think it's too bad for my first story. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Tell me if I should keep writing or trash this piece. Chapter Two should be up either early this week or next weekend. Maybe earlier if I have free time. Thanks for reading.


	2. When The Rain Leaves

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Tamaki screeched, purple in the face.

I looked away, knocking him in the face with my hand, "They offered, I accepted. Not that big of a deal, senpai."

"BUT YOU CAN'T LIVE WITH THEM! THEY'RE JUST THE HOMOSEXUAL SUPPORTING CAST!" He cried, swinging his fist in the air, red from all the yelling and lecturing.

Hikaru and Kaoru put an arm around my shoulders again, "Hey, Boss, cut it out." Kaoru said defensively.

"Yeah," Hikaru added, "knock it off with the third degree."

Tamaki grabbed each twin by their collars, pulling them away from me, "YOU SHADY TWINS AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER! SHE CANNOT STAY WITH TWO SICK PERVERTS LIKE YOU! I FORBID IT!" He shouted.

"Hey, who are you calling shady?" they chimed in together. "Take a good long look at yourself, Boss."

He suddenly dropped the twins, eyes wide, hands searching his body as if searching for every scrap of dirt or filth, "You're right…. I'm hideous…." He gasped, tugging on his perfect blonde. "MOMMA!" He cried, falling into Kyoya's arms.

Kyoya put a hand around him loosely, "Tamaki, honestly. This is pathetic. Get up. You're not filthy, you idiot," he pushed Tamaki back up into a standing position.

Tamaki floated away from Kyoya, falling in the corner, curling his knees to his chest, a dark aura illuminating from him. "Haruhi could've stayed with me…I'm her daddy after all…I bet those twins bribed her…with Fancy Tuna."

I sighed. Sometimes, this guy was too much, "Senpai, they didn't bribe me. I agreed willingly."

Honey bounded over, climbing up me and onto my shoulders, "Why don't you just admit that you love her, Tama-chan?"

Mori grunted, dipping his head in agreement.

The look on Tamaki's face was pure shock. Color drained from his skin, his violet eyes wide and trembling. "Me…? In love….? With… Haruhi…? But, how? She's my daughter. All I want to do is protect her… Don't I?"

"Ha! You're a big ole perv!" The twins chimed at the same time, smirking as they pointed at Tamaki.

Kyoya wasn't paying attention, his slate eyes focused on his book, yet on cue, he added, "Statistics show that you have considered your undying love for her at least twelve times a month. If Haruhi dressed like a girl, the average male student would ask her out every week and consider his own undying love." He paused, closing his eyes as he slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "The odds aren't in your favor, I'm afraid."

Tamaki paled, slowly sinking to the ground and lying there, looking like he had been petrified. Honey crouched down, head tilted curiously, honey eyes wide and innocent. He slowly reached out and poked Tamaki, "Poke poke?"

These guys are such idiots, I tried to cover my giggles with my hand. What is wrong with you? Laughing at a time like this? You're dad is gone for months and you're going to be staying with two guys that you don't even know…. What had I gotten myself into?

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I had drifted through each of my classes, not really paying attention to what my professor taught, just kind of sitting there quietly, bound to fiddle with my hands. Each of the twins sat on either side of me, Kaoru on the left and Hikaru to my right. I couldn't help but wonder if that was their way of guarding me from the others. Like marking me as theirs. They both sat slouched, propped on their right hand, both gazing at the board like a lazy cat supervising its kingdom. Hmmm. They are twins. It's easy for people to mix them up. I wonder… What makes them different? This is how I decided to spend my idle time. My own personal analysis of 'Which One is Hikaru?'

First, I examined Kaoru. He was identical to his twin, of course, but I was looking for details. Details that everyone else would miss. Stretching out, he sat straight, extending his long legs out in front of him and folding his ankles. His nails were manicured and flawless, his hands smooth and soft looking. His golden feline eyes locked onto the board attentively, catching small details and connecting them where no one else would. After a minute, he shook his head, his full lips forming the word, "Wrong," he muttered as the teacher pronounced something incorrect. He closed his eyes, his red eyebrows slicked as he ran a manicured hand through his fiery hair. Interesting.

Next, I switched my gaze to Hikaru. He was bent over his desk, his tall form folded, his arms cushioning his chin. His eyes lazily flicked to the board, looking over it with a keen eye. I saw that brain of his working, and I knew that, though he acted aloof, he was soaking in the information like a sponge. The long slender fingers of his drummed soundlessly along his desk, and I could just make out his hands: lightly calloused, rough nail beds from bad chewing, and slightly knotted knuckles from cracking them. He rolled his eyes, beating a new pattern, and sighed, "Idiot..." he grumbled as the teacher messed up. "So boring…" Hikaru was critical, face ticked and didn't have as much of a filter as his twin. Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose, his form like a scholar lost in thought. These were two completely different species I was examining. Slowly, he ran his fingers through his disheveled hair, and then he glanced over, catching me staring. A slow smirk curved his lips, and he tore out a piece of paper, nonchalantly passing it over to me. Slowly, I unfurled it. It read in big fancy letters:

(author's note: Italics: Haruhi Italics and Underline: Hikaru)

Enjoying the view?

Rolling my eyes, I scribbled back in a very sloppy hand:

Nothing to look at really.

A few minutes later, the folded note fluttered down onto my hand, and I heard his little chuckle. Then open your eyes. I won't be at your mercy like this for long. Should I bring out the fancy tuna?

I crumbled up the paper and threw it at his head.

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The final bell rang, and I realized that I had never been to the Hitachiin Manor. I hadn't even seen the Hitachiin Manor. I haven't even seen a manor to begin with. So I walked with the boys, the three of us like a little pack, the twins flanking me. We took the same position in their limo: me in the middle, Kaoru to my left, and Hikaru to my right. I still felt like I was being sheltered, protected by my identical, fiery, feline warriors.

Each of them slid an arm behind my back, learning their eager face towards mine. "So are you excited?" Kaoru asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I haven't even seen a house bigger than a two story apartment," I said, then completely regretted it.

They hugged me, rubbed their cheeks against my hair, "Oh poor thing, you poor dear…" they kept saying, holding me like I was abused.

I released a long low sigh, "These rich people…" I muttered, but lost my resentment as we passed from the tree canopy, the beautiful mansion gasping into view. The building was huge: a large fountain, marble columns, groomed yard, lush gardens and tiled pathways. I felt my jaw drop, still staring as the car rolled to a stop.

The twins got out, walking away from me and I stumbled after them. They just tossed their book bags to the maids haphazardly, making the twin girls scramble to catch the bags. I stared at them unbelievingly as the contents spilled out over the ground and Hikaru and Kaoru didn't even look back. I knelt down, collecting the papers in my hands.

One of the twin maids, I'm not sure which, looked up at me with eyes swimming with gratitude, "Thank you," she whispered, the maids scurrying off inside. I hesitantly walked in, gazing at all the high walls and fashionable architecture. "Um, where is my room exactly?" I called to their backs.

At the same time, they raised their right hand, their left in their pockets, and waved it at me as they walked. "The maids will show you to your room. We have better stuff to do. Get unpacked and come downstairs at 8. That's when dinner is." They said at the same time.

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My room was large, complete with a big canopy bed, a walk out French balcony, and a master bathroom with a walk in closet.

Too much.

I spent the remainder of my time lying back on the fluffy bed, tracing the golden embroidery with a small pale finger. After what seemed like forever, the large clock on my wall struck 8 and screamed at me to leave the room. I shuffled down the stairs, wearing a simple shirt and jeans, making my way into the kitchen.

Hikaru and Kaoru were there already, leaning against the granite countertops, tormenting the maids as they tried to cook. Spotting me, they abandoned the maids, thinking I would be much better entertainment. They tangled themselves with my body, their limbs encircling me, their faces close. Each held up a spoon with some food on it, grinning.

"Open up, Haruhi. Have a taste." They said creepily.

Rolling my eyes, I let them each feed me that little bit, then I pursed my lips, "Is that a stir fry? It's so dry. Here, let me show you." I pushed my sleeves up, beginning to work on the food.

"Yay!" Hikaru and Kaoru chanted. "Commoner's Dinnertime! Commoner's Dinnertime!"

The heat was intense, causing a faint blush over my cheeks, and all the stirring was making all of my muscles I wasn't aware of ache. After a few minutes, the food was done, and I was just mixing it up more.

Hikaru put a hand on my right hip, placing his chin on my right shoulder, whispering into my ear, "Fed me please?" His lips brushed a sensitive part of my ear, his breath caressing my skin. It caused my eyes to flutter as I held out the spoon, letting him taste.

Kaoru crept up behind me, hand pressed to my left hip, chin on my left shoulder, "A bite for me too?" He ran his fingers through my short hair, fitting his head into the crook of my neck. I gave him, letting him have a bite as well.

They backed off after that, thankfully for my sake. I poured everyone a bowl, getting many complements, smiling as I ate my share.

"Tasty," the twins said flawlessly, giving two thumbs up. "Commoner's food is awesome. Way to go, Haruhi!"

The maids dipped their heads, "This is very good, Mistress. We'll have to get your recipe."

"Thank you guys so much. You have such a nice house. It's beautiful," I said.

Kaoru scoffed, "This is just our first house. You should see our father's new designs. It's quite amazing."

"Not like he'll let us see it," Hikaru muttered. Silence rang as Kaoru slapped Hikaru under the table.

After a minute, Kaoru cleared his throat, going off to bed, Hikaru on his heels. I sighed, "Well, I just that's my cue…"

The maids shooed me off to bed, refusing my offer to help clean up.

So I trudged up the stairs, collapsing into my new bed, getting swallowed up in the large comforter.

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I tried to call my dad, and after the fifth time, he answered.

"Hello Haruhi!" He said in a sing song voice. "How are you doing, daughter? Who did you choose to stay with? NOT THAT RAPIST RIGHT?!"

I almost chuckled, loving to hear his voice, "No, dad, I'm fine. I ended up choosing the Hitachiin twins, you like them, right?"

"Oh yes!" He exclaimed. "They were so gorgeous."

Chuckling, I asked, "So how's America?"

"They're so RUDE. And FAT… AND RUDE! Oh, but this job is worth it. It will be a huge step up, Haruhi."

"That's good to hear dad." I paused. "Actually, I was wanting to talk to you about something-"

"What was that dear-" Static. "-I can't hear a word-" Static. "Gotta go, darling. Bye!"

A little disappointed, I took the phone down from my ear and stared at it, ending the call. I stood, checking my window. The curtains were closed and the window locked, rain flinging itself relentlessly against the glass. I let the curtains fall back into place. Well, I should be fine, as long as it doesn't-

And then the thunder sounded.

I threw my phone, yelping and hiding under my blanket. My joints locked up, my jaw locked, tears streaming down my cheeks like hot grease. The lightning flashed and I screamed, burying my face down into the bed, wishing to rid myself of this world at this moment.

My sobs and screams must've caught some attention, because minutes later, someone entered my room. Hands gently pulled the blanket down and headphones covered my ears, blocking out thunder's horrible scream. Hikaru was behind me, arms around my middle and head resting in between my shoulder blades, whispering soft sweet nothing into the cloth of my shirt. When I opened my eyes, Kaoru had taken my face in his hands, wiping away my fallen tears with his thumbs like they were nothing more than fallen rain. He gazed down at me with golden eyes. "Look at me, focus on me." He mouthed.

After a few minutes, Kaoru glanced at Hikaru, and I read his lips: "Should we leave after she falls asleep?"

I felt Hikaru's head shake, feeling his words vibrate through my body, thrumming through his chest, "We leave when the rain does."

Feeling tears well up in my eyes again, I knew I wasn't crying because of the rain.


	3. The White Devils

That night, I fell asleep with Hikaru's warm arms around me, my head on Kaoru's soft chest. The music was a soft tone, gentle rifts of a guitar and a little piano, tender to the ears. I dreamt of that music in the dream I had. The dream was so vivid I swore it was real, that I was just seeing myself in another life, staring at  _my_ twin. It was so strange.

It started out with that song, the notes quiet and gentle. Then I shattered the darkness, falling out in a beautifully yellow dress, something I would never wear, along with a diamond crown and golden slippers. I looked down at myself, searching my fresh skin for the usual sign that I needed to bathe or that I had written my grocery list there with marker. I couldn't find any. It was pristine and crisp. Then I realized, this couldn't be me.

As soon as I thought the words, a mirror sprouted from the ground, carved from silver and as brilliant as the moon. My skin nearly glowed, my make up done to perfection, my short hair styled to look extremely feminine, and any flaw that could've been was gone. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the edge of the mirror, gazing into its depths, searching for who this strange woman was. She didn't have crinkles above her forehead, no bags were found under her eyes, and she didn't have a puffy red nose. This woman was gorgeous. Through the mirror, I saw people blossom out of the darkness, in ornate suits and dresses, all of them staring at me. The low buzz of talking sifted through the room like bees as my gaze shifted through the crowd. A great ballroom materialized all around us, and I realized every single person was wearing the same unsettling white mask, their blank eyes staring at me. Just as I was about to turn back to the mirror, someone tapped me gently on the shoulder. I turned to see who it was.

In front of me stood a six foot man with a stark white suit on, so crisp and chipper it almost hurt my eyes to look at. It had white everything: white vest, white shirt, white tie, white jacket, white pants, white shoes, white gloves, and white cufflinks. The only splash of color was a black thorny rose in his lapel, the petals beguiling and thorns wicked. It sneered at me, daring me to come any closer and it would sink its teeth in me. The man wore a different mask, a glaring devil one that was the color of blood, stretching just to his cheekbones, the horns spiraling up through his fiery hair. His golden eyes gazed down into mine, and he bowed low, extending a hand. I never saw his mouth move, but I _felt_ him say the words.

"May I have this dance?" The voice was elegant and reserved, one I haven't heard before. Slowly, I slid my hand into the soft folds of his gloved one. He pulled me close, arm around my waist. I gasped aloud, letting him hold me like this. One of his hands held mine up gently, the other tucked around my waist. I was pressed against his chest, staring up at him through wide eyes as he gazed down at me through the mask. Then we started dancing.

He moved to the music, our dance going to the soft rifts of the guitar and the silent thrum of the piano. He was skilled where I wasn't, but my body seemed to know more than I did, so I followed him actually able to keep up. This man was obviously one of the twins… but which one? And why would I dream about this? If my hands hadn't been occupied, my hands would've been in the process of ripping out my hair. I could usually tell them apart so easily, but now as I watched him move, the gentleness of his grip, the fierceness of his eyes, the sharp contour of his jaw… and I came up blank.

The music slowly faded, and I watched the White Devil as he knelt, kissing my hand softly. He gazed up at me, then tenderly spoke, "I love you, Haruhi, and I always have." His voice was slowly fading like my music.

The look of surprise must've made it to my brain in time, because I uttered out a hasty and short, "I love you too." I fumbled for the right words, but they never graced my tongue. Words like who are you, what am I doing here, what are we? I reached out, my dream self speaking for me. My fingers ran through his hair, and I opened my mouth to say something.

And I fell awake just as I had his name on my lips. Sitting up in the bed, I grasped the sheets hard, looking around. Hikaru and Kaoru had left, my door shut, the window closed, a candle burning softly in the corner. This bed was too huge. It took about twelve scoots for me to get out of it. I threw the blankets back, letting my bare feet slid against the cool tile. Slowly making my way to the bathroom, I splashed cold water against my face, cupping my hands and taking a steady drink. I stared at my reflection, letting the water drip down my face, curling down my hair.  _What did this dream mean?_ Probably nothing, but it seemed too vivid. Too important. The only problem was that it completely made no sense.

The White Devil had clearly been Hikaru or Kaoru, but that was insane. I had no intimate feelings with either. Or anyone, for that matter. I dried my face on the lavish towel, setting it on the counter, more to steady me than to put the towel away. I shuffled out of the bathroom, walking over to the wayward candle, watching it flicker and crack. Tilting my head, I just pondered silently. Was that dream just abstract, or was it future? I sighed. This was so confusing. But… what if my feelings for the twins weren't as imaginary as I hammered them out to be…?

I quickly extinguished my thoughts and the candle.

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That morning, you could cut the tension with a knife it was so thick. The twins sat opposite from each other versus their usual side by side, still sticking with Hikaru on my right and Kaoru on my left. I was kicked numerous times on both sides, hearing a small sorry when it happened. I could only imagine the twins kicking each under the table, keeping my tired look in the depths of the bowl. I chose the least fancy thing I could find, which had been hand crushed oatmeal with fresh out of season fruits. Both of the boys had some typed of rich dish that I didn't even know how to pronounce. It looked extravagant, and I stuck with my oatmeal.

I examined the twins. On the right, Hikaru, on the left, Kaoru. No tricks, no imagining. Their appearance was in black in white; couldn't be much plainer. Why did I have such trouble telling them apart in the dream? I just wanted to know which devil my dream self had chosen.

"Young masters and mistress. You should get to leaving. The chauffer is waiting for you and you must not be late," one of them, I'm still not sure which one, said.

The other stood by the door, holding out our school bags. Hikaru and Kaoru passed, grabbing their bags without any thanks, the dark cloud following them. I took my bag and bowed, giving my most grateful smile, "Thank you so much. Have a nice day."

She nodded to me as I walked out, taking a leathered seat in a new car. This new car design had the twins behind me and the chauffer ahead of me. I sighed, staring out the window. This way, I was isolated from contact with the twins and conversation with the chauffer.  _Great. Just great._

The car ride would've been better if it had been quiet, which it wasn't. In front of me, the driver was humming an annoying tone, tapping the steering wheel. And behind me, I only caught snippets of the conversation.

Hikaru was giving a harsh whisper, "… I said I was sorry, what else do you want?"

"Just drop it, Hikaru, you obviously don't understand," he said, looking away.

A sigh, "Kaoru, what did I do? Are you this upset at a silly little comment?"

"Hikaru. Just drop it please."

"… So, you agree with him? You think that he would let us step foot into  _his_ house? That house is like his baby. The only one allowed in there is-"

"Enough Hikaru. Keep talking like that and he won't invite us anywhere," Kaoru spoke softly to his twin, and the words must've sunk in because they were quiet the rest of the ride.

I smiled slightly. The dark clouds above their heads slowly rolled away.

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I was out of it all day, lost in thought. During the host club, I had no requests so I sat on the windowsill, gazing out at the school grounds. It was sunny today, the sun smiling down on the Earth, warming me through the glass of the window. The yard was perfectly cut and trimmed, not a blade of dry grass seen. The light breeze shook the pink petals loose and they fluttered softly to the ground. Having nothing else to do, I glanced over at the twins.

Hikaru was taking a sip of tea, sitting properly, a mirror image of Kaoru, who sat on his left. Kaoru smiled attentively at the ladies, politely listening to everything they had to say. He put his folded hands on the table, "You're the real reasons that we are here, ladies, just so you'll know." He winked and they turned scarlet, gaping at him like guppies, trying to form words.

Hikaru set down his teacup hard, staring at Kaoru, "Are you saying that you like them better than me?" The girls' heads swiveled between the twins, not wanting to miss any of this.

Startled, Kaoru looked at him with wide eyes, "Never, Hikaru, I was just saying that I like quality time with these ladies and-"

He never got to finish his sentence because Hikaru stood swiftly, taking Kaoru's face in his palms. He looked down at him gently, his voice dropping to a husky whisper, "But you'd much rather spend quality time with me, right brother?"

Kaoru squirmed, tilting his head back and looking away, "Don't make me admit it in front of everybody like this… So embarrassing…"

"Just say it, Kaoru," He urged, nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

Hesitantly, Kaoru moved his head so that his cheek rested in the silky strands of Hikaru's hair, "Yes, brother… I'd rather spend time with you…" The girl's squealed, waving like they were about to pass out.

I rolled my eyes, looking away.  _Yep. I have zero feelings towards them._  Curious, I ended up checking on each host.

Kyoya looked down at a girl through his glasses, smiling as he held out a hand, "Welcome, mademoiselle, come right in. Who is it that you've come to request?"

The girl slipped her hand into his, "Uh, you, Kyoya-senpai."

He pulled her closer, kissing her hand, smiling, "Why, I'm sure that we can arrange that."

Some girls had formed a line, waiting for an opening with Kyoya, "HE'S SO COOL!"

Shaking my head, I looked over at Mori and Honey.

Honey giggled, holding up his stuffed rabbit Uca-chan in Mori's face, "Look, Takashi! Uca-chan has whipped cream on his nose! Isn't he silly?"

Mori grunted, nodding his head. He reached out a finger, taking some whipped cream and put it on Honey's nose. He nodded in approval, "Now you match."

Honey tried to look at the frosting on his nose, going cross eyed. He looked back up at Mori, giggling as he held Uca-chan up more, "Clean him off, Takashi," he said his command like a pouty request.

Mori leaned forward, licking off the whipped cream. He pulled away. Honey whined, "Don't forget me, Takashi!"

Obediently, Mori held Honey's chin, putting his mouth on the smaller boy's nose, sucking the whipped cream off, "All clean, Mitsukune."

The girls were squealing, "SO CUTE!"

Scoffing, I switched my focus to Tamaki.

He, of course was sitting at his couch, surrounded by women. One looked at him, holding her tea in her small hands, "Tamaki, my dad said that I can't go to this club anymore. I'll never see you again…"

Tamaki flashed that famous glance to the side and wrapped his arms around the girl, enveloping her in his essence, "Not true. I will visit you every night in your dreams. Ours will be a forbidden love then. Meet me in the hot forests of the Forbidden Forrest where we'll dance for our love," He pulled back so that they were nose and nose. "Are you ready to taste the forbidden fruit, princess?"

She gulped, looking up at him, "Y-Yes…"

The other girls squealed, shoving each other excitedly, "ME NEXT! ME NEXT!"

I sighed, looking out to the school yard again.  _Yep. Just as I thought. Zero affection towards_ any  _of them._

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After an hour or so, the girls had to go back to class so we cleaned up and gathered around to start our meeting.

"Okay," Tamaki started cheerily. "First thing's first," he suddenly grabbed me, checking over me. "DID THEY TOUCH YOU?! HARUHI, TELL DADDY WHERE THEY TOUCHED YOU! WHAT DID THEY GIVE YOU?!" He shook me, "JUST SAY NO TO THE FANCY TUNA!"

My hand connected with the front of his face, pushing him back, "Back off, senpai, they didn't touch me-"

Hikaru and Kaoru wrapped their arms around my shoulders, putting a hand on their hips and crossing their feet, positioning themselves so that we were symmetrical, "Um, Haruhi," Kaoru said innocently, but he was smirking. "Did you forget about all of in your bed?"

Hikaru put a hand to his heart, feigning hurt, but the devilish smirk had twisted up his smile as well, "How swiftly you dismiss our love."

Tamaki blew a gasket, getting blue, "YOU PERVS!" He started to run towards them, probably going to chew them out when Mori lifted him up, holding him in place. The twins stuck their tongues out, pulling the bottom lid of their eyelid down at him. Tamaki looked like a fussy baby, beating on Mori's chest, "I'm her Daddy, Mori-senpai! I must protect her!"

Kyoya put a hand around Tamaki's mouth, "Shut up, you idiot. Anyway. What he was trying to say was that we've decided the theme of the upcoming dance. It's masquerade. Hikaru, Kaoru, can your mother deliver us some samples of new suits and masks?"

They nodded, "Yeah, we'll talk to her about it."

Kyoya nodded, "Great."

Tamaki was red under Kyoya's hand, "Kyoya… Kyoya I can't breath…" He gasped out.

Checking his book, he answered, "Good."

"Kyoya…" Tamaki finally slipped out, breathing in great gulps of air and looked at him. "Your fingers accidently pinched my nose shut."

"Oh, I'm sorry. That was on purpose," he said, writing stuff down in his little black book.

My mind froze, "Wait… Masquerade? Like with masks?"

Kyoya sighed at my ignorance, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Yes, that would be it."

I had a small vision of being surrounded by all those white masks.  _Just like my dream..._ "I was just making sure."

Tamaki popped up, a cat grin on his face as he held up a lavish dress, "I already picked out your costume, Haruhi."

I stared at him with a blank face, not amused, "No way in hell, senpai."

He made a noise like he'd been slapped and fell back, lying there frozen. Hikaru and Kaoru stood over him, waving, "Uh, boss?"

I sighed.  _These rich people…_

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We got to the large home, which I will never get used to, and I set my books on the table. Rolling back my shoulders, I tried to relieve some of the school stress, popping my neck. I glanced down at my books, noticing a paper out of place. Curious, I opened it to the loose page, reading the extravagant script. It read:

'Haruhi Fugioka,

We know many things. And we know your secret. Tell anyone about this, and you'll be ended. Disobey us, and worse will come. Be expecting more of these in the near future.

-Your Friends'

I was utterly perplexed. Reading each sentence over and over, I couldn't make sense of it. If this was a prank, it was legitimate and elaborate. I stared at it, and jumped as the twins came into the kitchen, shoving the note back into the book and slamming it. I turned and looked at them, staring up at their questioning looks.

_Who would've sent that note? And why…?_

Because my train of thought went off, someone opened up the front door in a grand flourish. He stood in a black on black suit, a white handkerchief in his lapel, diamond cufflinks on his cuffs. He smiled with straight white teeth, looking at Hikaru and Kaoru, nodding to them, then his gaze fell onto me.

He was tall, long legged and elegant. His fiery red hair was swept back but a few pesky strands rebelled and staid pressed against his forehead. Golden eyes gazed down at me, examining me in milliseconds, and I almost melting under the secure and safe feeling of his eyes. He lips stretched up into a bigger grin, and he scratched the small red goatee on his chin, brushing a hand along the stubble that sprouted along his prominent jaw.

"My, my. Who is this?" He held out a steady hand. "I'm Hikaru and Kaoru's father. What's your name, young man?"

That's when I froze. His voice matched the one that belonged to the White Devil.

 


	4. The Surprise Meeting

I stood, staring at the hand extended out to me.  _Mister… Hitachiin is… the White Devil?_ He waited politely, smile never fading or faltering. Blubbering like a commoner wasn't going to make a very good first impression, so I stuck a hand out, taking his hand in an uncoordinated way, shaking it without experience, "I… um, I-I'm, uh, not a b-"

"-business man like yourself so he doesn't know how to shake hands so professionally," Kaoru said, propping himself on my left shoulder. "Go along with it," he whispered softly into my ear.

Hikaru leaned on my right shoulder, hand going up and twirling my hair around a slender finger, "Dad, this is Haruhi Fujioka, the commoner that got in because of his grades. Haruhi, this is our father, J-"

"-Just call me Mr. Hitachiin," he smiled kindly, putting another hand over my own. "That's what everyone calls me." He winked.

He pulled away, running a hand through his reddish-brown hair, looking around, "The place looks lovely," he chuckled, ruffling the twins hair. "Not that you two clean or anything."

Kaoru chuckled, looking up at his father, "We get that from you, dad."

"Yeah, we also can't cook. Thanks father," Hikaru laughed.

Mr. Hitachiin put them both of them under his arms, looking down at them, "What exciting is coming up?"

"Well," They said in unison. "They masquerade ball is coming up."

"Is Haruhi coming?" He asked politely, looking up at me.

The twins followed his gaze, and I fought the urge to squirm under the trio of such intrusive gazes.

"Of course," they said. "He'll be there."

"Cool. Then count me in!"

All three beamed at each other, and I smiled to myself. This seemed so normal. Like if you stripped away the mansion and all the expensive clothing, you wouldn't be able tell that these three men are rich. My eyes scanned over them, looking at their faces, their hands, their bodies, and all I saw was happiness. This looked exactly like a portrait of a man spending time with his adoring sons. Though I felt like if I was going to paint this, the twins would be really clear and defined lines while the father was with smooth and fuzzy lines. Mr. Hitachiin made Hikaru and Kaoru sharper.

"So when is the dance?" Mr. Hitachiin asked, looking down at the twins.

They shrugged, standing up, "In a few months."

He frowned, "Oh. Boys, I might not be able to make it…"

They tilted their heads to the side like it didn't affect them, but I saw the slight change in their eyes, the fading of their brightness. The twins grew dull from their originally clean lines.

"… because I'll be too busy chasing after you!" He said, turning and running after them.

The twins laughed, jogging down the halls in a perfect loping rhythm, "Catch us first, old man!"

I watched as they left, shaking my head. Mr. Hitachiin was actually more reserved than I expected. I thought of him as some lunatic that shared Hikaru and Kaoru's genetics. I was not expecting this.

The twins zipped by, and not long after, Mr. Hitachiin was there, having discarded his jacket and tie on the fly. He paused, looking in the kitchen. "Excuse me, lovely ladies. Please start cooking dinner," He asked the maids softly, turning towards me. "I want to hear all about this young man over a nice hearty dinner." He winked at me.

_Oh this is going to be one_ long  _dinner._

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The maids had gone all out for Mr. Hitachiin's request: ornate golden tablecloth, golden silverware, candles, and a large feast that took up every inch of table. My mouth was watering just to look at it. I took my seat in the plush cushioned chair, Hikaru to my right and Kaoru to my left. I was silently in Heaven, happiness all over my face as I piled my plate high with all the great looking food. Mr. Hitachiin, of course, sat at the head of the table, elegant and reserved.

Mr. Hitachiin cut into his steak, dipping the piece into its juices, taking a bite and chewing slowly. He wiped his mouth with the red table cloth. "So, Haruhi. Tell me about yourself. What made you want to attend Ouran Academy?"

I had just taken a bite of my roll, embarrassed that I was slightly talking with my mouth full, "They have excellent academic programs there, and having that on my resume will really help me on my pursuit to become a lawyer." I knew that Hikaru and Kaoru were going to probably make fun of me for talking like this, but I wanted to sound good in front of their father. Not like some ignorant commoner.

He paused, then smiled. "That is truly wonderful," he gestured al me with his fork. "We could use more people like you. Always follow your dreams." He smiled, and for some reason, the phrase held a double meaning in the back of my head, "they just might lead you somewhere."

I took a big swallow of my food, looking at my plate, "Wow. Thank you."

"Now why going into law? It is a very tough business."

Suddenly, I felt the twins stiffen beside me. I folded my hands and set them in my lap, "My mother was a lawyer, actually."

He smiled, crinkles by his eyes, indicating that he smiled a lot, "Oh really? What's her name? Perhaps I know her."

"Kotoko Fujioka," I said, feeling the twins' stares. "You probably don't know her, sir."

"Oh, well, you'll definitely have to introduce us," he said, oblivious.

I felt Hikaru take my right hand, holding it in his big one. Then Kaoru took my left, giving me an apologetic look.

"Um," I cleared my throat. No matter how many times I had to explain this to anyone, it was still like ripping a bandage off a fresh wound for the first time. "I'm afraid that she's not with us anymore, sir."

The look on Mr. Hitachiin's face was a mixture of apologetic and shock, "Oh… I'm so sorry, I-"

"I'm sorry?" Hikaru said, dropping his silverware onto his plate with a clatter. "You just made Haruhi think of his mother again, and all you have to say is 'I'm sorry?'"

"Hikaru…" Kaoru said pleadingly.

"No. I'm not finished. What would you do if we reminded you everyday that your marriage is falling apart!" He nearly shouted. He pushed his chair back, standing abruptly. The chair fell back with a clatter, him holding onto my hand tighter. "What would you do, father?"

Mr. Hitachiin sat in stunned silence, looking up at Hikaru with a set jaw. He looked between Hikaru and Kaoru, then his gaze fell on our hands and he released a soft sigh. Wiping his mouth, he slowly stood, looking to the maids, "It was an exquisite dinner. Please excuse the mess. I'll raise your pay for this week." He bowed to them. "I must be going now. It was great to see you again, Kaoru." He looked up at Hikaru, " Hikaru…"

Hikaru scoffed, pushing past him and going down the hall. Kaoru ran after him, "Hikaru," he called worriedly.

Mr. Hitachiin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He took my hand after composing himself again, "I truly do apologize Haruhi. If I would've known, I wouldn't have said anything."

I shook my head, "It's totally fine."

"Truly, young man. I hope we see each other again," he nodded, leaving.

I sighed.  _What have I gotten myself into?_

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After a long bath, and nothing good on TV, I was lying on my bed in some simple night clothes, scrolling through my contacts. I decided to call my father.

Three rings later, he answered.

"Haruhi!" He cried through the phone, "it is so good to hear you my daughter. What have you been up to?"

I sat down on the large bed, smoothing out the decorated blankets, "It's fine, dad. Mansion Hitachiin isn't so bad."

"How are those adorable twins? Still gorgeous?"

Scoffing, I twirled a loose feather in between my thumb and finger, "No part of them is beautiful, dad."

My door swung open and Kaoru stood there, a hand over his chest, "Hurtful."

I threw a pillow at him, chuckling, "Yes, dad, that's Kaoru. Oh, alright." I held out the phone to Kaoru, "He wants to speak with you."

Kaoru smiled, taking the phone and putting it up to his ear. He leaned back, closing his eyes and tilting his head to the side as he smiled, "Hello Mr. Fujioka. How are you today?"

I took my chance now to study him. He was leaned back on his arm, hand propping himself up, and he was sitting all relaxed, clearly comfortable in his environment. He had changed into some night clothes as well: a loose fitting grey shirt with blue sleeves, orange fuzzy sweatpants with blue roses, and orange slippers. His fiery red hair was held back with a few blue pins, his golden eyes peeked and ready to listen. As he talked, he pushed back a strand of hair nonchalantly, chatting carelessly with my father. His collarbones just peeked over the hem of his vintage t shirt, the light shining off his ivory skin.

I zoned out, lost in the dips of his body, the toss of his hair, the simplicity as his shoulders tightened and loosened under his shirt. I stared at him, then blushed when I realized that he was trying to hand my phone back to me. I swiped it up, pressing the small device to my ear, "Hey."

"Hello honey. I was just going to let you know that America is great and the twins seem great. I hope that you enjoy your time there."

"…Thank you dad." I considered telling him about the note, but I couldn't. If I did, he would quit his dream and fly back here and treat me like his fragile little girl. So I sucked it up and took a deep breath. "I love you dad."

"I love you too, Haruhi. But I have to go now. You know how much daddy likes shopping!" He clapped, "Bye bye dear."

"Bye dad," I said it quietly, slowly, lowering the phone and flipping it shut. Kaoru reached out, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay, Haruhi?" He asked softly, looking down at me with kind eyes. I thought about telling him about the note. I glanced to my desk where the ugly note laid, screaming at me to shout each ugly word at Kaoru's face.

Instead, I stared up at him, steadying my pulse and clearing my head. "I'm fine. Thank you for the concern."

He smiled. "That's what I'm here for, right? Moral support." He chuckled, closing his eyes and grinning lazily as he scratched the back of his head. It struck me suddenly what all the clients at the host club thought. Kaoru  _was_ adorable.

I shook my head, smiling as I punched him lightly on his toned torso, "Don't sell yourself for anything less." I flicked him in the forehead, "You hear me?"

He chuckled, rubbing his head, "Yes, I hear you."

"Why did you tell your father that I was a boy? Isn't it okay for him to know? Everyone else in this house does."

"Well… Hikaru wasn't sure how he'd process it, so we kept our mouths shut."

_So Hikaru made the decision…_

Leaning back in my bed, I hugged a pillow to my chest and played with the frayed ends, "So what brings you here anyway?"

"I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened at dinner. It was very unprofessional of all of us, and for that I am deeply sorry."

I shook my head, "No need, really. How's Hikaru?"

He smiled slightly as if thinking of his little identical twin, "He was super tired and said that he wanted to go to bed. I thought that I'd come and check on you."

"Well, thank you," I said. "… Is your dad's marriage really in trouble?" I asked softly.

Sighing, he glanced at me, "Heard that did you? Well, he doesn't want us children thinking that he can't hold his family together, but we all see through it pretty quickly. And we both know that once Hikaru has something on his mind, it's already halfway to his lips."

I snorted, "Isn't that the truth."

"Plus, Hikaru and our father aren't on the best of terms. Dad tries, but Hikaru doesn't want to give him a chance at all. Again, I apologize for everything that happened. Which reminds me…" he smiled. "I did come in here to apologize, but I also came in here for another reason entirely." He broke out in that innocent little smile that made a lot of girls squeal, or flail, whatever they did in their language, "Will you go out on a date with me?"

I blinked, staring up at him, "What?"

"You know, as friends. I want to take you out and show you the town. I still feel majorly responsible and guilty for what happened, and I would feel a whole lot better if you let me spoil you a little," he shrugged with a devilish grin. "I won't take no for an answer."

I sighed, a small smile forming to my lips, "I dunno, Kaoru…"

"Oh, come on."

Chuckling, I nodded, "Alright, alright, fine. I'll go on a date with you."

He grinned, jumping up and dancing around, "Great! I'll take you out around nine tomorrow!" He paused at the door, staring me down with those golden optics. Tilting his chin down, his hair fell into his eyes as he gazed down at me. He slowly put a hand up, swiping away his hair, his chin now pointing skyward. "Be sure that you're ready!" he said in a singsong voice as he skipped out.

I sighed, staring after his bounding form.  _A date. Perfect._

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The next day at school, as I opened up my locker, a paper fluttered to the ground. It was another note. Slowly, I picked it up and opened the black envelope, reading it to myself:

"Haruhi Fujioka

Thank you for your cooperation. It doesn't go unnoticed and is appreciated. Now, to the matter at hand. A customer will enter the Host Club in Music Room 3 at exactly 12:00. The client shall be wearing a green clip in their hair. They will request you. Do whatever they tell you, and they will be passing on other messages accordingly from then on.

-Your Friends"

I crumpled the note up, having half a mind to set it on fire as well. I tossed it back into my locker, slamming it shut and walking off. Whoever this female client was, she wasn't going to tell me what to do. I don't care who these people were. If this was a simpleminded prank, it sure took some time and effort. I sighed.  _I was_ not  _going to put up with this._

Busting the doors to the club, I grouchily walked in, pulling a chair up to my table, just sitting and watching the grandfather clock tick away time. Five minutes ticked by. It was 11:59. I urged on the second hand, counting with it in my head.

_One, two, three._ What would this girl even look like? I tried to imagine a small blonde girl with fierce green eyes and a practiced sneer… That made sense, but didn't fit for some reason.

_Eight, nine, ten._ Why was she even doing this? Did she, like myself, have some unknown debt she needed to pay off? Was she doing this because she was forced to, or because she had a twisted sense of humor?

_Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One._ What was her meaning to this people? Was she just an errand runner, or did she have meaning?

_Thirty-Five, thirty-six, thirty-seven._ What if I was way over thinking this? What if this was just one very elaborate hoax? Then I would've been worked up like this for nothing.

_Forty-nine, fifty, fifty-one._ I can't do this. I'm now officially freaking out. What was this? Who would do this to me?

_Fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine._ Help me.

The clock chimed time, and it rang all through the room. I didn't release hold of the chair until the very last chime, and even taking a few breaths after that just to be sure. Then, suppressed laughter bubbled up in my throat and I allowed myself to giggle at the silliness. Had I really been that worked up?

The doors opened and killed my laughter right there. A tall man strolled in, brushing back his loose black hair, his sea green eyes searching the room. In his hair, a green pin held up a few stray locks. In a deep rattle, he said, "I request Haruhi Fujioka."

My heart fell out of my chest in fright.

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My hands shook as I poured the tea, the room seeming to spin under me. I set the tea pot down, sitting rigid in my chair. He was leaned back and relaxed in his chair, poised like a panther. His green eyes watched me over the rim of his cup, oculars penetrating and evasive.

"Why did they send you?" I asked abruptly.

He closed his eyes, setting down the cup, "Is this how you treat all your guests?"

"Only the special ones."

"Oh?" He chuckled, letting his jade eyes glance at me. "You've got some fire in you, don't you commoner? I like that."

I was just fidgeting in my seat, waiting on him to say something. Anything, "Are you going to answer my question?"

He looked at me, pursed his lips in thought, then shook his head, "No. I don't even think that you can do that, Haruhi Fujioka."

I slammed a fist down on the table, glaring at him, earning us with many glances, "And why not?"

"Woah, woah, woah. Easy commoner. You don't want to draw attention to us," He pulled his jacket back a little, the hilt of a gun glittered, peeking out at me. "Trust me."

I swallowed my pride, my throat burning, "So what? Shoot me right here, in front of everybody?"

Smirking, he leaned back in the chair, putting a leg over the other, "I've done it before, why not again?"

_This guy was dangerous._ This  _guy, would kill me._

"What do you want?" I forced the words out, eyes wide, me trying to stay calm.

"Simple. We want you, Miss Fujioka. For what reasons? We can't tell you those yet exactly. This meeting was just an example of our future meetings. We do, of course, have your full and unadulterated cooperation, right Haruhi?"

Numbly, I felt my head nod.

He smiled, "Good." He grabbed my hand and kissed it.

Hikaru and Kaoru popped up behind me, arms folded over their chests, annoyance clear on their faces, "Um, excuse us. You were just-"

"Leaving," he said, looking between them. "I know." He nodded to me, "Good day, Fujioka. I'll definitely be becoming a regular customer here." He saunter out.

Tamaki ran up to Kyoya, grabbing his collar, "Kyoya, that man just molested my little girl! Did you not see that?! KYOYA DO SOMETHING!"

Kyoya scoffed, poking Tamaki in the forehead with his pen, knocking him back, "He's a paying customer, Tamaki. My hands are tied."

Tamaki got up, still yelling at Kyoya, but it sounded distant as I stared after him, watching the door break him from my line of sight. I heard Hikaru mumble under his breath, "… I still don't like him."

I sighed, staring down at the white tablecloth. "Me neither."

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I had asked the maids to help me find something to wear for my date, and they came through: a lovely and loose top with flowers on it, black simple pants, white shoes and a few small pins for my hair. Perfect for a casual, friendly night out. I sat on my bed, very impatient, seeking entertainment in books and other various items I could find. After a lifetime, the clock struck eight.

Kaoru knocked on my door. I cleared my throat, "Come in."

The door swung open, and I had the same reaction as walking into the host club: slight wind, whisking rose petals, blinding light. I adjusted my eyes, gazing up at him.

He wore a green shirt with a blue jacket, no sleeves on either, a loose belt, rough jeans and leather shoes. He held a manicured hand out, his smile lovely and reaching his eyes, "Miss Haruhi Fujioka, would you accompany my on this beautiful evening?"

I watched him, blinking. Nothing was going to mess this up for me. Not the 'friends', not the strange man with the clip, not the new drama of my temporary home. I was going to go out and have a good time with my friend.  _Hear that mom? I'm going to have fun with my friend tonight._

I slid my hand into his incredibly smooth one, "Yes. Yes, I will."


	5. Valentine's Day Special

_**Valentine's Day Special** _

The doors of the abandoned music room swung open, roses drifting out to caress the lucky person, startling light filling the hall. Kyoya stood, smiling as he closed his eyes, glasses further down on his long nose as he smiled without teeth, "Welcome, mademoiselle. I'm so glad that you decided to join us today. Come on in, don't be shy. Who is it that you're here to see today? Why yes. Welcome to the Ouran High School Host Club."

o0o

Tamaki spread his arms out in a wide arc, violet eyes gleaming as he announced to all the new clients pouring in, "Thank you for joining us today at the Host Club! All hosts will be on their best behavior, and they will be happy and eager to serve you with their all new Valentine packages. Now enjoy your time here and thank you, my princesses!" He laughed, seating a few ladies at his plush velvet couch.

I rolled my eyes at all of this.  _Ugh. Valentine's Day. The day of love._ Yeah right. I never understood this holiday, therefore it was my least favorite. It was only meagerly enjoyable if you had a significant other, which I didn't, and that you were head over heels, which I wasn't. Every year it loomed over everyone to make their relationship better, and if you weren't in a relationship, get into one. Every year it came around and every year I stood on the fourteenth significant other-less. All it did was make the people in relationships broke and single people feel worse about themselves. Sorry I wasn't exactly thrilled about it.

But now, since I was apart of a club that entertains young women on holidays and any other time, well to put it in short terms, I was screwed. The club was offering a ton of offers and packages for each host and each cost a little more the more romantic it was(genius Kyoya strikes again.) Kyoya really was smart, but I feared it was only in matters that benefit him like money, reputation, or connections. That's just how he was, and I didn't understand why anyone chose him when all he did was manipulate and hurt. Get past his looks and he was cold. But… get past his ice and there was a heart of gold that he kept buried for fear he would be weak… Only Tamaki and I had learned this.  _Ugh. Listen to me. I sound like a line from a romance novel._

 _Speaking of Kyoya…_ I glanced at him. I don't think I've ever seen him actually put down that little black book and actually entertain a group of girls instead of shove catalogues or offers in their faces. I wondered if he would actually do so for the holiday. Just once.

He smiled at a group of girls at a table, watching them examine the cups. "You like them?" he asked, towering above them as they sat. "That's our new collection. It hasn't even been released in stores yet."

"Wow, really?" one asked. "They're so beautiful, how did you get them?"

"Oh, the host club has its ways," He smirked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Only the finest for you ladies."

He hesitated, like he was going over every scenario in his head and deciding which one would profit him the most. Finally, he set down the small, leather bound book, fingers slowly curling away from the skin. He gulped, curling his hand up like he was having a withdrawal, then he slapped a prompt smile on his face. Grabbing the tea pot, he smiled, "Another glass ladies?"

They all nodded, and he refilled their glasses, sitting in the plush seat, elegant and refined as he examined them. "So what brings you here, ladies?"

"Well," one started. "it is Valentine's Day. We wouldn't dare miss the host club on such a special day."

"And right you are," he said absently, gazing out the window as his raven hair fell into his calculative slate eyes. "All beauty is fleeting. You were right to come here to try and capture it with a glimpse."

All the girls had froze, staring at him in silence, their cheeks flaming. Kyoya came back from thinking, making a noise of surprise, "Hm?" With a patient smile, he wiped a girl's chin clean. "Don't drool, mademoiselle. I haven't even tried to charm you yet." His hand stayed on her cheek, changing her facial color from red to scarlet.

He chuckled, pulling back his hand slowly, not minding to brush her lip with his thumb as he did so.

I rolled my eyes. That's where him and Tamaki were alike. They could both send a female's pulse skyrocketing out of sight. And that's able all that they shared.

o0o

Tamaki, our "king", was currently in his seat, surrounded by women as usual. His father being Japanese and his mother being French gave him a unique kind of beauty that was limited to only him. His silky blonde hair that fell just the right way, his velvety violet eyes that warmed a person like a warm drink, a complexion that wasn't quite pale, but not exactly tan. His long eyelashes blinked slowly as he looked at a girl to his side. His head rested on the back of his hand, his eyes soft and attentive, "I'm so glad that you all joined us today."

"Of course we came," one said.

Another added, "It's Valentine's day."

He smiled at each of them, tilting his head to the side, "I was so afraid that I was going to get lonely around here without any of you."

One girl frowned, setting down her cup as she looked up at him, "But, Tamaki, why on Earth would you get lonely in such a beautiful place like this?"

Reaching out, he pulled her close against him, arm around her waist as he took her hand. Tilting her chin up gently, he scratched a finger on the skin, sliding the digit along her smooth jaw. He gazed at her, eyes never breaking contact, "Oh, but don't you understand? Have you not gotten it yet? This club is nothing but a filler for me. I only do it to serve you, and nothing else. Every second away from you is an eternity too long. I may look like the king of the host club, but you are my queen, and I am just your servant of love. I live to please you, goddess."

She gasped, blushing feverishly, "Oh… I, uh, I understand now, Tamaki." Now she said his name with relish, letting it shift on her tongue as if it held a new weight.

He released her, smirking as he pushed the loose strands of gold hair back with the others, "Now do you understand, princess? This is why I express myself on Valentine's Day. It is the only day I can show my goddess my full passion while she is at the club. The few meager hours you have here can never satisfy me, princess. But I'll spend them here if that is what brings you the most joy."

She smiled, closing her eyes, "Oh, Tamaki…"

o0o

Mori and Honey had been gone most of the day and I hadn't thought about it until I saw their table empty of Moris and Honeys and overflowing with girls. No sooner than I start thinking of different situations that could've happened to them that had made them late(last minute material arts conference, couldn't find the right type of sweets, Uca-chan had played hide and go seek and had hid too well) when they came in and completely shattered my previous thoughts.

The first one I saw was Mori. He walked in slowly, not judging the stares or comments. He walked in silently as he wore a complete rabbit suit, complete with ears and footsies and a big white tail. His outfit was a dark blue, a pink blob painted on his nose, whiskers painted out of it.

On his furry shoulders sat the bubbly third year, Honey, decked out in a full bunny outfit, his pink with a dark blue dot on his nose with little white whiskers. He hopped down on the couch, hugging Uca-chan close to his chest as fluffed his little tail and ears, "Look ladies, now Takashi and I match Uca-chan!" He held up the rabbit as Mori sat, nodding.

"Yeah," He grunted.

The girls were probably in as much a shock as I was. They squealed, saying stuff like, "So cute!" and "They're adorable!" They swarmed around the two like bees to honey, but Honey loved the attention.

He grinned, "We thought it was going to be a nice surprise for all you ladies if we dressed like this." He climbed up Mori's torso, hanging off his shoulders, blonde hair barely visible under the hood as the looked up at him with swirling honey colored eyes, "Do you think it's cute, Takashi?"

Mori returned his gaze with his dark grey eyes, dipping his dark head in a nod, "Yes, Mitsukuni. Adorable," he rumbled in his deep voice.

Honey giggled, dancing Uca-chan around and patting Mori on the head, "You're silly, Takashi."

o0o

Apparently, Mori and Honey weren't the only ones dressing up. As I looked over, the twins wore matching tunics, wings sprouting from their backs, quiver slung over their shoulder and bows held in their hands. They smiled at the ladies, grinning as they made them laugh. They leaned back in their chairs, "You know, it's kind of ironic, if you think about it."

The clients, confused, tilted their heads to the side, "What do you mean? What's ironic?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kaoru asked.

Hikaru finished, "We're the 'Little Devil' type-"

They pressed their cheeks together, holding hands as they closed their eyes, "And here we are portraying perfect little angels."

"But of course," one girl said. "You have to. It's Valentine's Day."

They gazed at her with golden eyes, their fiery hair being held back by little Greek looking leaves, "Exactly. So we'll be the devilish cupids. We shoot our arrows and whoever it hits has to fall in love. So we choose you." They suddenly drew a little plastic arrow, one with a golden heart as a head, and shot her with both.

She looked startled as the two bolts hit her, and she blinked when she looked up and couldn't find the twins. They appeared beside her, Kaoru on her left, Hikaru on her right. Each grabbed her chin, holding her there, their faces extremely close to hers.

"Which on did you see first?" Kaoru asked.

Hikaru nodded, brushing his nose across her cheek, "Yeah, me or him?"

She gulped, gaze flicking between the two, "I, I, I dunno, I guess."

"Hmm." They smirked, "Then you'll just have to have both of us."

Kaoru took her face closer, gazing down at her and smiling as he took her hand, stroking her cheek, "Looks like it's just me and you right now."

Hikaru gently pulled her chin back, pressing his cheek against the girl's so he could look at Kaoru, "Sorry, but I'm not good at sharing."

The girl blushed, looking faint. All the other girls squealed, "Me next!"

_Ugh. And so was Valentine's Day in the host club._

o0o

After all the clients slowly and reluctantly shuffled out, we all gathered around, closing up shop. I was cleaning up like a regular day, not caring if it was a holiday or not.

"Haruhi," Kyoya called. "Come join us for a moment please?"

Sighing, I shuffling back into the prep room. When I stepped in there, I was met with a strange sight. Almost every host was smiling at me, a table of gifts in front of them. I stared at all of them, "What is this, guys?"

Honey giggled, "Open it, Haru-chan!"

I shook my head, "But, I don't understand, I don't even like Valentine's Day-"

"That's why we're doing this," Kaoru smiled.

Slowly, I took the first present, tearing into it. After a minute of unwrapping, I saw a full length silky nightgown. The white cloth was modest and lacy, very cute and thoughtful. I looked around to see whose this was, but I could've guessed. So I wasn't shocked when I saw Tamaki, eyes wide, tail wagging as he waited for my reaction. I nodded, "Very pretty, senpai. I like it."

He broke into a huge grin. Tamaki grinned like that for the rest of the night I think. I took the next one.

After a minute, I pulled out a small jewelry box. As soon as I opened it, my jaw resisted the urge to drop. It was a glimmering little broach in the shape of a rose, painted red with fresh gold edges. I looked around. Everyone shrugged, then lastly, Kyoya nodded.

"That was from me," he nodded, still writing.

Blinking, I looked at him, "You got me a gift, Kyoya senpai?"

"Yes. What's wrong with that?" He smirked. "I simply paid for it from your extra money made."

 _That made sense._ "Ah, so I really  _was_ paying for it after all. Sounds about right," I grumbled, moving on.

The next was a box of assorted cakes and other sweets. Honey jumped up, waving an arm, "That was MINE!" Honey giggled.

I smiled down at him. "Thank you so much, Honey senpai. I'll definitely enjoy these later."

In the next bag, I pulled out a large platter of fish. Raising an eyebrow, I glanced up at Mori, "Uh, thanks, Mori senpai. I'll definitely eat this sometime."

Mori grunted, staring down at me. He patted my head, looking at the fish. "Fancy tuna," he explained.

My eyes widened and my mouth watered. I nodded in thanks, moving on.

There was only one present left, so I ripped it open. Kaoru scratched the back of his head shyly as I looked at his gift. I stared at the two ticket looking things and some beautifully carved chopsticks.

Kaoru smiled bashfully, "It's reservations to a nice restaurant. I figured that we would take you some time and show you all the rich people food you haven't had yet. And the chopsticks are yours to use whenever."

I smiled, "Wow, Kaoru, that was really thoughtful. Thank you. Thank you all." I glanced at Hikaru expectantly, waiting.

He rolled his eyes, smirking, "I didn't get you a gift because I don't believe in this holiday. Sorry."

I shook my head, content with my little pile of presents.

_This hasn't been a bad day so far._

o0o

I was in my room, looking at all the new things I had gotten, smiling as I ran a finger over each just to touch the gifts again. That night, I wore Tamaki's gown, set the broach on the table and had eaten a cake and a piece of fancy tuna. I was in paradise. Looking at the picture of my mom, I smiled.

_Can you see this from Heaven mom? I got a Valentine's present from the host club. Wasn't that nice? Everyone gave me a gift. Well, everyone except for-_

I was interrupted by a knock at my door. Frowning, I checked my watch. Dinner was over and it was nightfall. I didn't know who could be at my door at this hour. I opened the door, peering out.

Hikaru was leaned on the door, a simple red rose in his hand. He twirled it in between his thumb and forefinger, stopping long enough to look up at me. "Hey. I'm sorry I didn't give you a present."

I shook my head, evaluating his orange shirt and blue night pants. "It's fine, Hikaru, I understand."

He shook his head, stepping inside, "I just don't think that Valentine's Day is stupid. People say things they don't mean."

Raising my eyebrows, I looked up at him, "So is you coming here something you didn't mean to do?"

He stared at me, "It was the only thing I did right."

I paused at his seriousness in his tone, watching as he spoke, his words having a deep meaning. "But I did come here, and I do mean this. I got you this," He held out the red rose to me, gazing down at me. "I thought of you when I saw it. Hard on the outside but beautiful." He shook his head. "Keep it or toss it. I just thought it meant more than some chocolates at a store." He walked out, "Goodnight."

As the door closed, I stared after him, sitting on my bed as I pressed the petals of the rose to my nose, inhaling the fragrance. It was sweet and smooth, like Hikaru, and I smiled. Looking back at all my other presents, my smile widened.

Like a little school girl, I fell back onto the bed, laughing.

_Maybe this isn't such a bad holiday after all._


	6. Right Over The Heart

The weather was so beautiful as Kaoru took me out on the town. The sun shone, the birds chirped, a gentle breeze blew. Nothing could've been better. We walked down the strip, stopping at whatever booth interested us.

"Anything you like," Kaoru reminded over my shoulder, "just tell me. I'll get it for you."

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, I know, Kaoru. I only heard you the first million times."

Kaoru smiled, staring up into the beautifully cloudless day. The soft breeze frolicked through his fiery hair, toying with the curve in the strands. He smiled, the motion nothing more than a slight upturn at the corners of his lips as he flicked his hair back out of his face. The wind tugged at his clothing a little, shifting them on his torso, making the contours of his body seen through the clothing. His golden eyes looked out into the distance, and he sighed faintly as if looking up like that could make him see straight to wherever Hikaru was.

It was rare to just one of Hitachiin twins, so I decided to enjoy this moment that was so ephemeral and unique (much like both of the twins).

Smiling a little, I scanned the jewelry table, looking for something special. My eyes stopped on two necklaces. I took them into my hand, looking them over carefully. "How much for these?"

After paying, I walked over to Kaoru, displaying what I had bought for him. It was like a 'Best Friends' necklace, but it was a Gemini one instead, each necklace having one side of the Gemini symbol. One was blue, one was orange. When they were pressed together they formed the complete Gemini symbol. "Do you like it?"

I held out the orange one to him and he took it smiling, "Wow, Haruhi. These are beautiful. Very thoughtful. Gemini is our sign. Ironic, huh? The twin's sign is the twins."

As I watched Kaoru, I found myself smiling, then releasing a small chuckle.

He stopped looking at the necklace, switching his focus to me, "Huh? Something funny?"

"Nothing, it's just… It's different seeing you alone. Whenever you're with Hikaru, you are so mischievous yet, you are the nicer of the two. Though, when you're by yourself you're so mature and thoughtful and nice. It's like you're completely different."

He made a thoughtful noise, then tilted his head to the side, looking down at me with soft golden eyes, "Good different?"

I couldn't help but smile as he dangled the necklace in front of my face like a pendulum, trying to hypnotize me. I reached out and grabbed the swinging necklace by it's end, stopping it from it's swinging, "Great different."

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When we got home, I had a few bags in my arms. Kaoru walked in after, holding a small bag he had gotten for Hikaru. We set our bags on the table, the maids busying themselves with tidying our clothes and asking if they could help us carry anything. Kaoru waved them away, breathing in a large breath.

Stretching out my arms, I yawned, "What's Hikaru been doing all day?"

"I don't know," He smiled. "Sleeping, most likely."

"Still? But it's noon."

He chuckled, "That's Hikaru for you. Oh! I know what we can do. Let's go jump on him and wake him up! It'll be fun. GO!" He took off, booking it down the halls.

I rolled my eyes, slowly making my way through the massive mansion.

After what seemed like forever, I happened, by chance, to stumble across the twin's room.  _Huh. Kaoru must not have been here…_ The doors were shut and there was no sign of a disturbance. Slowly, I closed my fingers around the door handle and slowly forced it open.

Inside was a huge master bedroom, much like mine but the bed was larger. This was clearly Hikaru's room, but I could tell that Kaoru often could be found in here from the incriminating evidence: his neat clothes as Hikaru's were just thrown, Kaoru's schoolbag on the desk, a pair of shoes by the bed like he had taken them off before going to bed. It was obvious that the twins were very close. Anyone could see that just by looking at them. But here, in such an intimate setting as a bedroom to see their stuff together was like viewing them on a whole new level. It's as Kaoru said.  _'We knew that we were two separate beings. The one that wasn't me was Hikaru. The one that wasn't Hikaru, was me.'_

Something stirred in the bed that brought my attention back to the task at hand with a snap.

Just as Kaoru promised, Hikaru was lying in bed even with the sun in the middle of the sky and everything. I sighed, walking over there to examine him. He laid in bed sideways, the ruffled hair and crinkled sheets revealing that he had been tossing and turning for all day. His cheek was pressing against his pillow, smushing his cheek lightly. The way the blanket fell on him revealed his shoulder, his ivory skin showing. That meant that he was either shirtless or wearing a small tank top. I found myself blushing at the thought. Then I saw his face.

He laid peacefully, face blank and slack, mouth hanging open a little as he snored softly. His eyebrows twitched and furrowed, him muttering softly in his sleep. Finally, I caught what he was saying.

"Kaoru…" He whispered softly, head whipping back and forth as he mumbled his twin's name over and over. He kept gripping his side like he was incomplete, and I found the gesture to be insanely sweet. I shook my head. There was no way I was going to ruin something this adorable. I couldn't jump on Hikaru right now.

Just as I turned to walk out of the room, Kaoru dashed in, flopping down on his twin.

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I was right about Hikaru being shirtless.

About seven o'clock I heard clangs and shouts (including some profanity and cussing) coming from the kitchen. Hurriedly, I rushed down the hall to see what in the world the matter could be.

Hikaru was in the kitchen, sitting among some pans that were strewn across the floor haphazardly and cursing out the pans as his food burned on the stove. He stood, walking over and putting the burnt food in the trash. He sighed, the kitchen a mess and plates and ingredients everywhere. Tossing his towel down, he sat with his head in his hands, "I quit this stupid cooking thing."

Walking over, I put a hand on his bare shoulder, "Need a hand?"

"Go away," he mumbled bitterly. "I was trying to cook you a meal."

"Hikaru. It's okay to ask people for help. Everybody needs it now and then. So, will you accept mine?" I held out my hand, eyes focused on him.

He paused, then slowly lifted his head. Bright golden oculars gazed up at me, then at my hand as if he were awestruck. Closing his mouth, he slid his fingers into my hand, and I pulled him to his feet.

I smiled. "Alright. Let's get started then."

After we got all of the kitchen cleaned up and back in order, I took over the cooking, getting some food on the simmer. Then I decided to teach Hikaru how to cut up vegetables.

"You have to be careful," I was saying, slowing cutting some mushrooms on a cutting board with a large knife. "The knife is very very sharp, and your skin is very gentle. Don't cut yourself."

Hikaru watched the knife move as if in a trance, blinking every time the knife hit the cutting board. I chuckled at him, "Would you like to try?"

His head swiveled up to meet my eyes and he gulped, standing straight, "Uh, sure."

I handed him the knife, showing him how to use it. I rested my hand on his, guiding it through the vegetables. Slowly, I took my hand away. He was going very slow, but I didn't mind. Whatever was most comfortable for him.

"You know," he said. "This is the fist time that I've chopped vegetables. Ever."

I blinked, "Really?"

"Yeah. We've always had chefs and maids and people who made it for us. Merits of being rich, I guess."

I watched him as he worked, the muscles in his back tensing and releasing each time he brought the blade down. A thought tugged at the back at my head and I suddenly remembered, "Oh! I almost forgot. I got you something today." I held out the blue part of the Gemini necklace.

He stopped what he was doing, looking over. Taking the necklace in his hand, running a thumb across its smooth face.

"Kaoru has the other part," I explained. "It's half of the Gemini."

His lips curled up into a small smile, "It's perfect." He handed it back to me, "Put it on me, will you?"

Taking the necklace, I stood on my tiptoes, trying to place the necklace properly. I buckled the latch, stepping back to admire it on him. I fell right between his collarbones, the silver a contrast with his ivory skin. It laid right over his heart.

He looked at me and gave me that famous lop-sided grin that made the girls at the host club squeal, "A perfect fit."

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**(Next day, at the Host Club)**

The day had gone by fine. Until the man with the green clip sauntered in and requested me. Again. Now he was sitting at my table and drinking tea, watching me with those jade green eyes, having not said anything.

I cleared my throat, "Is there a reason that you're here today?"

He set the tea glass down, smirking, "There a has to be reason?"

"Just curious. The first time we met, you threatened to kill me."

Stirring his glass, he put his arm on the table, holding his chin in his palm, " 'Threatened' is such a strong word."

Stiffly, I watched him, "Can I at least have the honor of knowing your name?"

I saw his mouth twist up in a smirk, "Hm. Maybe."

Kyoya appeared behind me, smiling at the strange man, "Hello, monsieur. Enjoying your time here, I hope?"

The man looked up at him, returning the friendly gesture, "Of course. Haruhi is definitely the best. I find it refreshing to speak with such a spirited young man." He took my hand, kissing my knuckle slowly. His lips felt cold and ice like though his hand was warm.

Tamaki popped up from behind Kyoya, looking like he was about to bite the man's hand off, "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY LITTLE GIRL LIKE THAT! RELEASE HER AT ONCE! KYOYA DO SOMETHING!"

"Sorry, sir. But we have a strict no physical contact rule. Only the hosts may engage any contact, and even then it must be limited," Kyoya said.

He slowly let my hand fall to the table. Closing his eyes, his lips curled up in a smirk, his hair falling into his eyes, "That is refreshing as well. You two are cute together," he gestured to Tamaki and Kyoya. "I don't know what I find more amusing. The fact that you take orders from him, or that him being Haruhi's dad, makes you mommy." He smirked up at Kyoya, eyes holding a clear and obvious challenge.

Hikaru and Kaoru stood behind the man's chair, arms folded across their chests. Their necklaces hung there just under their jackets, the edges peeking out. They both leaned over the chair, glaring at the guy.

"It's time for Haruhi to switch clients," Kaoru said.

"Yeah," Hikaru added. "He needs to see someone actually worth his time."

He clutched his chest, feigning hurt, "Ouch. I get the memo." He stood, glancing back at me, "And Haruhi? Can I take you on a date? Tablu tomorrow?"

I gulped, knowing I couldn't refuse. I knew that I shocked my friends when I said, "Yes. Of course."

Smirking, he turned, "Great. I'll pick you up at eight." He started out, then paused, "Haruhi?"

Looking up, I blinked, not knowing what he had to say.

"My name is Jaga by the way," he called over his shoulder as he walked out.

I felt the eyes of the Host Club on me, but I couldn't return any of their gazes.  _Jaga…_

Kasanoda strode in just as Jaga had swaggered out. The red headed softie looked like he'd seen a ghost walk right past him, "That student… Why was he in here?"

Honey bounded up, Mori behind him as always, "He was here to see Haru-chan!"

Kasanoda's eyes snapped up to mine and I felt my blood run cold, "Do you know that was? That's Jaga 'The Jaguar' Akuma. He's the next in line for head of the Akuma syndicate. He's a real gangster. His dad could buy my dad then sell him at a garage sale. This guy is real danger. What are you doing with him, Fujioka?"

I tried to swallow but I felt like I had lead in my throat, "… I don't know."

_What was I doing with myself?_


	7. A Date With Death

When I woke in the morning on my soft bed, I could almost forget what happened yesterday. Almost. As soon as my eyes opened and I had straightened all my limbs, the reality crushed down upon me like a ton of bricks.  _I had bought myself a date with a gangster. Perfect._

I scooted out of bed, grumbling to myself as I shuffled to the bathroom. The floor was cold on my bare feet, the tile even colder in the pristine bathroom. Eventually I just leaned heavily on the granite counter, staring at my haggard reflection in the ornate mirror. My hair was ruffled and edgy, my skin shiny and pale and as I touched the bags under my eyes I could tell that I slept very fitfully through out the night. Releasing a deep sigh, I stripped my clothing and lugged myself into the shower.

The water didn't whine as it flowed smoothly through the shower head, the water instantly warm, splashing against the blemish free pink tiles. I hugged myself tightly, hair dangling in front of my face. Sighing, I pressed my face against the wall, leaning into it as I let the water run down my back to soothe the sore muscles. I just stood there like that, letting the steam and water envelope my body from the morning, trying to wake me from my lingering slumber and to rejuvenate some of myself so that I could function properly.

Looking around, I eventually found the lavish soaps and scrubs, cleaning myself half heartedly. Without wanting to, I turned the handle down, cutting off the warm supply of water. Slowly, but with more function, I stepped out of the shower and began to dry myself off. After the towel was securely covering me, I glanced up at the ceiling for guidance, "Can you see this from Heaven, Mom? I bet you wouldn't approve if I came home with a mob boyfriend. Then you'd disown me and I'd have to pierce something not on my face." I released a sigh, staring out at the fogged up mirror, "Not responding today, huh? Don't worry. I don't expect you to. I know that you're busy. I just… Thank you for listening, Mom." I mumbled it quietly, slowly leaving the bathroom with those words.

Outside in my room stood one of the maids. She straightened her skirts, clasping her hands together and looking up at me, "Good morning, Miss Fujioka."

I made a small noise of surprise, staring at her. Slowly regaining my composure, I replied, "Good morning. You know that you can just call me Haruhi, right? That's my name."

She looked away, fidgeting awkwardly, "I'm sorry Miss Fujioka, but I must insist. This is how I must formally address you."

"It doesn't matter to me what you call me, Haruhi, Miss Fujioka, Haru. It's all the same to me. But just don't call me master or servant. I'm not above or below you. I don't care what you call me ma'am but if you treat me kindly, I'll return the favor. So how about we just be cool around each other, you know?"

Blankly, she stared at me like she had never been told that before and just watched me before going to me door. She walked out, going to close the door, but stopped herself. She slowly came back in, "So, Haruhi…?" She said the word like it was a new one in her vocabulary, swirling it off her tongue. "Breakfast is ready for you whenever you are." Without another word she disappeared downstairs. I felt myself smile.  _She said my name._

After spending a few minutes getting ready and putting my uniform on, I decided to go downstairs.

As the maids had said breakfast was ready and spread across the table in a splendorous layout. Piles of gourmet foods and ornate silverware mounted the table in a mighty feast, gleaming in its richness. Hikaru sat on one side of the table, Kaoru on the other, both of them beaming at each other over their breakfast plates. Mr. Hitachiin sat at the head of the table, legs crossed as he held the newspaper on his knee, reading each word carefully. The maids came around to serve the older Hitachiin attentively, putting on smiles and bowing after compliments and requests. They stood, straightening from their work. They gazed at me, then their faces broke into large smiles, "Good morning Miss Haruhi. Your breakfast is ready on the table." They went off into the kitchen.

I returned the kind gesture, going over and sitting where my breakfast happened to be placed (in between Mr. Hitachiin and Hikaru a.k.a. possible war grounds) and I looked at what was in the bowl. It was a regular brand of cereal that I had been asking for so long but the maids would never comply because they said it was too much of a commoner's food, which I took great offense to. I on the other hand was so excited to see my new cereal, swirling it with my spoon before I took a bite and munched happily on it.

Hikaru chuckled, "What is that? I haven't even seen that before…" He stared at it, trying to figure it out.

"Oh ignorant Hikaru," Kaoru smirked, rolling his eyes, "obviously it's commoner's oatmeal. Right Haruhi?"

I couldn't help but laugh at them quietly, at their confused and bewildered faces.

Mr. Hitachiin shook his head, "Forgive my sons, Haruhi. They aren't used to your simplicities. Boys, that is called cereal. It is a grain and is served with milk. It is inexpensive and very filling and tasting. Yet another great invention brought to us by commoners." He flipped the page on his newspaper.

Impressed, I looked over at him, "That's a lot of insightful information about commoners, Mr. Hitachiin."

"Oh, that's nothing. Don't worry. I've had cereal many times. As a boost, that's what usually helps me in the morning. And the coffee usually wakes me from the dead originally," He chuckled softly at his own joke, going back to reading the small printed font on the paper.

 _Hmm._ "What is it that you do again, Mr. Hitachiin?" I asked, the curiosity now itching at the back of my brain.

He folded the paper down over his knee and set it over the table as he picked up his steaming coffee mug, sipping it slowly, "Oh, I work in a software company. I was about your age, Haruhi, when my father, Yamato Daito taught me all that I know about the business." He smiled kindly, voice calm and very reserved.

"Wait," I frowned, looking up at him. "Your father's name was Daito. So why is yours and the twin's name Hitachiin?"

"Oh, we never told you?" Hikaru asked, looking over at me.

"Yeah, it's a kind of romantic story," Kaoru said. "When dad met mom, she just had become popular in the fashion business. So when they married, they chose to take the name Hitachiin because it was a more well known name, and she didn't have to change the name of her company."

( **A/N: For those of you that don't know, when you marry you can only have one name in Japan. You can't hyphenate it so that it would be Hitachiin-Daito)**

I nodded, "Of course. The marriage laws. That was very sweet of you, Mr. Hitachiin."

With a dip of his head, he gently smiled, "I try to be sweet." In that single moment, I saw why he had let her take the last name. Mr. Hitachiin was many things, but outgoing was not one of them. He was very soft spoken and reserved, the most extravagant thing that I'd ever seen him do is to wear a suit that matched. I figured that it was just in his nature; his character was the soft kind father figure that loves his children. I had a nagging suspicion that he could tell the twins apart as well. So I assumed that his wife was terribly lavish and outgoing while he was off to the side and more of a wall flower. I suppose that opposites attract, but when I think back to what Hikaru said… I'm not so sure…  _"_ _What would you do if we reminded you everyday that your marriage is falling apart!"_

I found myself releasing a small sigh.  _Gah, I hate love. It's complicated._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Tamaki had all of the hosts gathered around a white board, which read "Plan to Get Haruhi Away from Creepy Jaguar Guy", and he pointed at it like he was briefing them for a mission. The twins, Mori, and Honey all were watching intently and they were saluting and participating. Kyoya glanced over every now and again from his notebook, then scribbled more things down.  _What_ does  _he keep in that shady little book?_ I sighed, trying not to pay attention to them for the moment being. I had bigger fish to fry. What was I going to do with myself? Ugh, I hate life right now. Why does it have to be like this? Can't I just tell the scary yakuza away and he won't shoot me? Yeah, I'm sure that's how every mafia movie ends…

My phone started ringing, and I looked down to see that it was my dad. I let myself smile a little bit, and then I answer the phone, "Hey dad."

"OH MY HARUHI! I'M SO HAPPY TO BE FINALLY TALKING TO YOU AGAIN! I had to go get to a new hotel, and then I had to do some important business stuff, and then of course my phone died, and as you can see I've had many struggles, but that's no reason FOR DADDY NOT TO CALL HIS BELOVED DAUGHTER," he shouted through the phone, causing me to hold the phone away and wince.

I chuckled, "Easy dad. I've missed you too."

"Aw, my little girl misses me!" Ranka grinned and I could nearly hear it through the phone. "Well I miss you more, baby girl, you know how much daddy loves you!"

"Yes. I know, dad." I smiled, tapping the table slowly with my slim, small, little fingers. "So how's America? What all have you seen?"

"OH MY GOODNESS, HARUHI! YOU WOULDN'T BELIVE THESE AMERICANS! They're so open about… everything! A woman told me her whole life story while I was in the restroom! She walked right into the men's room and just started talking to me like this was totally appropriate! And then this man walked up to me and asked me if I would have HIS CHILDREN! I ALREADY HAVE A CHILD! I CAN'T EVEN HAVE CHILDREN!" He paused and took a big breath through his mouth. "And the shows that they have over here are ridiculous, Haruhi! Game of Arms, Amish Mafia, Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant (1)… HARUHI YOU BETTER NOT END UP ON THAT SHOW! EVER! LISTEN TO YOUR DADDY! DON'T BE ON THAT SHOW! YOU UNDERSTAND, HARUHI?!"

Somehow I found myself laughing a little, smiling at his childishness. "Of course dad. I would never even think of doing something like that." For some reason, my eyes shifted slowly over to the twins. I smiled fondly as they smirked at each other, all entangled as usual. Mori and Honey broke away from the small group, starting to head over to my table. "Hey Dad. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later though. Love you."

He barely had time to say "Love you" in return before I clicked the phone shut.

Honey bounded over, smiling, the stuffed rabbit hugged close to his chest. "Hi Haru-chan. May we join you?" I nodded and they both sat at the table, Mori's legs extending far under it and Honey's not even touching the ground.

"So are you scared for your date, Haru-chan?" Honey asked, absently playing with Usa-chan as he spoke.

Tamaki, Kaoru, and Hikaru popped up defensively from whatever they had been doing and growled in unison, "IT'S NOT A DATE!"

I couldn't hear what was said by Kyoya at the moment, but the next thing I know Tamaki is on a steaming pile on the ground and the twins are trying to wake him, waving their hands in his face and poking him. I had a pretty good feeling that he was out cold for the night.

"I guess I'm ready for it, if that's what you're asking. I mean, it's just some silly little date with a silly little boy. Nothing will go wrong, right?" As soon as I said that, I knew that I shouldn't have. Should I tell them about the notes and who Jaga really is? I asked myself this everyday but I couldn't find the answer anytime.  _Jaga. The man that has ruined my life. Can you see him from Heaven, mom? He's the one that just might kill me if I don't do what he says. Aren't you just so proud of your daughter?_

Was Jaga just another loose end like me, or was he a head in the infamous operation that played for my life? That wasn't the first time I had asked that question either. Images of Jaga flashed through my head: his jade green eyes, his little green hair clip, the wavy black hair of his, the jaguar ring on his finger, the ice cold feeling of his lips crushing down on my fragile skin…

Hikaru and Kaoru came up behind me, a slow smirk crawling up to their lips as they flicked their gazes towards each other. Hikaru leaned down on my left shoulder, running his left hand down the expanse of my arm, putting our hands together so that we held hands with his hand overlapping mine. His other arm went loosely around my neck, tilting my head back so that he could place his nose into the crook of my neck. He stayed like that, body pressed against my body as he laced himself to me.

Kaoru leaned down on my right side, taking my hand in both of his smooth ones, leaning into my shoulder so that he could swivel his head to gaze at me at his leisure. He placed a small little kiss on my shoulder, staring up at me.

They spoke in unison, "Haruhi…" My name came out a whine.

I sighed, but wasn't really complaining. Getting placed in between the twins like this always made me feel warm. Safe. "Yes, what is it, twins?"

"Do you really have to go on this date?" asked Kaoru.

"Yeah," Hikaru agreed, his voice thrumming against my skin. "Are we not good enough for you or something?"

His tone was joking, but I knew Hikaru to be very sensitive to these types of instances so I chose to tread lightly. "I can't just back out, I promised."

Hikaru made a thinking sound, "So, if we got you to promise something, you'll have to do it then?"

I sighed, knowing where this was going, "Yeah, sure."

The twin's heads dipped and they both gave an evil laugh, smirking.

They were planning something. And I was doomed.

Honey jumped up, batting the twins away, "Hika-chan! Kao-chan! Stop trying to take advantage of Haruhi!" He jumped into my arms and hugged me. Standing, Mori walked up, wrapping his long arms around the two of us as he set his chin on my shoulder, which of course caused Honey to giggle.

I could say what I want, but I really did love the host club.

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After the Host Club was over, I was leaving the room to head off to my class whenever I was stopped, "Haruhi, could you wait a second?"

The voice belonged to Kyoya of course. I turned and he was all leaned against a pillar, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He examined me with the flick of an eye, making a small noise to himself.

I turned my body towards him. "Did you need something, Kyoya?"

He disentangled himself from his spot and held out a single card. "I understand that you are familiar with the Ootori family private police form, The Black Onion Squad. They are a police force of exactly 100 officers. They are on call day and night and can be launched against our enemies in the blink of an eye."

I, like every other member of the host club, knew of the squad. "Uh, yeah. What does that have to do with anything, senpai?"

He thrust the sheet closer to me. "That's their number. If you find yourself in perile, just dial the number listed.'

I took the paper and looked it over as he started to go away, "But, senpai, there are two numbers."

"I know," he nodded. "The other is mine."

"But… Which is which?"

I could practically hear the smirk in his voice as he called, "Figure it out then, won't you?"

o0o

As I got ready for my date that night, the twins lounged out on my bed like a pair of Chesire cats. They critiqued everything I suggested like some critical judges. I sighed, "You guys make me not want to date."

"Good," Kaoru said.

"You should only want to date us," Hikaru agreed.

I rolled my eyes, getting back to trying on clothes.

Walking out in a tank top and some shorts, I got the following responses:

Kaoru: No, no, no. Totally inapporiate. Way too cute for a date.

Me: Guys, I would like actually look a little cute on my date-

Hikaru: Not acceptable at all. Only we are to witness the cuteness of Haruhi.

Eventually we decided on a nice black sweater and some regular jeans. Kaoru growled, "That punk better not hurt you."

Hikaru sighed. "How is it that you still look totally cute even without trying?"

I felt myself blush slightly at the comment, probably just because it was hot under the turtleneck. The doorbell rang, making us all jump.

Kaoru jumped up, marching to the door, "I'll show him a piece of my mind.."

Chuckling at his protectiveness, I turned to Hikaru who had stood in front of me now, causing me to look up at him. He reached out and grabbed my hand, bending down and kissing my forehead slowly. The motion was so foreign and unpredictable I just stood there and let him do whatever he wanted. His lips were so warm against my skin, and soft like I had guessed. Bringing his arm around my waist, he pulled me into a crushing hug, resting his chin on my head as he forced my face into his warm chest.

He smelled strongly of honeysuckle, which made me want to melt into him further. He squeezed my hand, kissed my temple, then whispered lowly, "Just come home safe."

By the time that I opened my eyes, he was out of the room to leave me staring after him in a daze. Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself for my date.

A date with Death.


	8. The Jaguar, The Matador, The Bull, Oh My!

_(Last time, on Twin Devils)_   _As I got ready for my date that night, the twins lounged out on my bed like a pair of Cheshire cats. They critiqued everything I suggested like some critical judges. I sighed, "You guys make me not want to date."_

_"Good," Kaoru said._

_"You should only want to date us," Hiker agreed._

_I rolled my eyes, getting back to trying on clothes._

_Walking out in a tank top and some shorts, I got the following responses:_

_Kaoru: No, no, no. Totally inappropriate. Way too cute for a date._

_Me: Guys, I would like actually look a little cute on my date-_

_Hikaru: Not acceptable at all. Only we are to witness the cuteness of Haruhi._

_Eventually we decided on a nice black sweater and some regular jeans. Kaoru growled, "That punk better not hurt you."_

_Hikaru sighed. "How is it that you still look totally cute even without trying?"_

_I felt myself blush slightly at the comment, probably just because it was hot under the turtleneck. The doorbell rang, making us all jump._

_Kaoru jumped up, marching to the door, "I'll show him a piece of my mind."_

_Chuckling at his protectiveness, I turned to Hikaru who had stood in front of me now, causing me to look up at him. He reached out and grabbed my hand, bending down and kissing my forehead slowly. The motion was so foreign and unpredictable I just stood there and let him do whatever he wanted. His lips were so warm against my skin, and soft like I had guessed. Bringing his arm around my waist, he pulled me into a crushing hug, resting his chin on my head as he forced my face into his warm chest._

_He smelled strongly of honeysuckle, which made me want to melt into him further. He squeezed my hand, kissed my temple, then whispered lowly, "Just come home safe."_

_By the time that I opened my eyes, he was out of the room to leave me staring after him in a daze. Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself for my date._

_A date with Death._

o0o

I took a deep breath, my clothes suddenly ten times heavier than before. I knew that it was just in my head, that my clothes couldn't actually gain any weight in a short period of time, but right now, I honestly couldn't add two and two. My muscles started to feel as thick as syrup, and my limbs like they had been heavy with lead, and I walked through the room, it was like wading through tar. The grandfather clock in the hall struck the hour, its face sneering as it chimed eight loud times, its pendulum swinging like it was sticking its tongue out at me. Then it hit me.  _He was early._ That little devil. The little devil is down there with my twin devils and the White Devil… I have a lot of devils in my life.

Finally, I reach the railing and look over it. I spot Jaga and an iciness enters my veins that certainly hadn't been there before then. Time ticked slower and all I could think about was how much I wanted this date to be over. Forcing my legs to walk, I slowly made my way to the stairs and took each step carefully on the large flight.  _Why do rich people have_ so  _many stairs? What's the point? Do rich people determine their wealth by flaunting how many flights of stairs or unused guest rooms they have?_ It all seems kind of pointless to me, but right now I wanted to put as much distance between myself and Jaga as I could.

Reaching the final step, I found myself releasing a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding until then. Walking down the long carpet towards the foyer, I felt all of their eyes on my body, the itch you get behind your back and in between your shoulder blades when you feel someone watching you, but I couldn't bring myself to return any of their gazes. Stepping closer to the group of them, I slowly lifted my eyes to observe the area around me.

The maids were in the kitchen, leaning over the counter and watching with their always nonchalant identical gazes. Their eyes flicked up and down, observing this new person who had stepped into the Hitachiin manor unannounced. Switching their focus to me, they perked up, the unknown event peeking their interest. Mr. Hitachiin was at the kitchen table at the head, legs crossed as he relaxed in the chair, reading his newspaper in a carefree way. Even though he acted like he was more invested in the paper than he was in our unusual meeting. I could see his eyes drift on our guest and us more and more. He cared, even if he didn't want to act like it. The twins stood exactly ten feet away from Jaga, their eyes in slits as they examined him, teeth bared in sneers and their hair pointed. In that moment, I imagined them as cats with fierce golden eyes slitted, teeth and claws extended in a mood, and hackles raised. My feisty feline warriors who acted fierce in battle. And they were going to protect me. And then, my eyes fell on Jaga.

There were many ways to describe him (dangerous, devious, deadly) but  _casual_ wasn't one of them. But that's the word I would use now, if rich people were capable of being casual. He had adorned a simple red shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Over that he had put on a silver vest with white skulls embroidered all through the silky fabric. The top few buttons of his shirt were undone to reveal his toned chest, his collarbones just peeking out. Hanging low on his hips were some fashionable blue jeans, that even commoners could afford, and he was walking in dark leather boots. His jade green oculars tore deep into me like jagged glass, his gaze unblinking and unnerving, like he was trying to find a way inside me and decrypt all my secrets. He had such an angular face, which would've been attractive, had he not sent me strange notes and threatened to kill me. His dark wavy hair was held back with the familiar green clip, which I had used to identify him. Arching his eyebrows, he smirked down at me, and I saw his resemblance to a jaguar in that instance. Like a jaguar that had waited so long in the tall grass, rolling back its shoulders, flicking its tail back and forth and staring as it ran its tongue over its sharp incisors before it finally cornered its prey. And around his neck, I saw a silver chain, and garnishing that just before it slipped under his shirt, it winked at me. It was a glittery skull. His smirk, which had faded into a smile, widened. He was the jaguar. He was the predator, and I was his prey. He was the predator, and I forced myself to stay.

"Haruhi," he greeted. The sound of his voice scared me, forcing me out of my shock like he had just shattered some sacred silence or something.

Taking all my energy to return his ever present gaze, I dipped my head, "Jaga."

He took a step forward on long legs, quickly closing the space between us. Flinching at how easily he had gotten so close, I had to gulp down the urge to take a few steps back as he pressed closer. After a second he was almost on top of me to the point that you could barely wedge a piece of paper between us. Even though our bodies were close, he went an extra mile and moved his head close to mine. Every breath he took sent warmth into my hair and I was close enough to inhale traces of the cologne he'd dabbed on, which smelled an awful lot like rustic dead flowers. I felt his body inch forward, soaking in the scent of me, and then just as quick he pulled away, smirking down at me from our close proximity. His eyes searched mine, and then he broke out into that wretched smirk again, "You smell nice."

I heard Hikaru growl behind me, and I pictured him shaking his fist angrily, "It's called get your face out of his hair or I'll punch you in the throat!"

Jaga released a low chuckle and looked at Hikaru, "Please now. This is no way to act in a room full of gentlemen. And I'm sure that Mr. Hitachiin would agree?"

Mr. Hitachiin looked up, "Oh, um, yes of course." He gave a smile, "Forgive me, I wasn't really listening to the conversation."

Jaga looked smug, glancing back at the twins now with a triumphant green gaze. Kaoru had his arms crossed, glaring at the dark headed boy, "Wouldn't you have to be a gentlemen in order for this to be a room full of gentlemen?"

For a second, Jaga looked down at his shirt, straightening the shoulder nonchalantly, "Oh, Kaoru, I think we both know that this isn't a room full of gentlemen." When he spoke, he put emphasis on the word  _men._

There was a wavering moment when the twins' eyes lost their regular confident sheen, and I saw a flash of fear before they recovered.

Checking his nails, Jaga released a sigh, "Well, we should be going now. Right Haruhi?"

"No touching, hand holding, hugging, or kissing on the first date," Kaoru said. "Hear that mister? You treat Haruhi like the, uh, man he deserves." He hesitated at the word man, casting a nervous glance towards his father.

Hikaru grabbed my chin, pulling it back so that he had my full attention, "And if you're not back by eleven o'clock, we'll play a penalty, got that?"

I nodded, and his warm fingers slipped away. Mr. Hitachiin folded his paper and laid it down on the table, standing as he made his way towards his two sons. He wrapped his arms around both of Hikaru and Kaoru's shoulders, pulling them close in a hug. "Now boys. Stop fretting over him. Haruhi is as capable of protecting himself as you two can, understand? Let the boy go out on his 'date' and let us leave him away, yes?"

Pulling away, Mr. Hitachiin gave me a small gentle hug. In my ear, he whispered, "If he gives you any trouble, young man, you call me." But when he pulled away, he just gave me a soft smile as he clapped me on the shoulder, speaking so that everyone could hear, "Have a fun time, Haruhi."

The twins crossed their arms as Jaga put an arm put an arm around my shoulder. He smirked back at them, "What? Don't look at me that way, you mother hens. You never said I couldn't put my arm around Haruhi."

"THAT WAS A PART OF TOUCHING!" They shouted in unison. "So stop touching!"

Jaga smirked, tightening his grip on me. Where his arm laid, a creeping sensation of ice now throbbed through my bones and shivered down my skin, "Geez, calm down. We might be back by eleven." And with that he whisked me outside before the twins could leave a comment.

Outside, a huge limo purred, long like the car should be, but the shape of a big Hummer. I'd never seen anything like it. Swerving me to the door, he actually opened it for me like a gentlemen. Climbing in, I got to see just how luxurious the inside was.

All of the seats were nice dark leather, lights from the sides, floors, and ceiling cast hazy red shadows onto the interior. A red flooring stretched out through the walkway, ghastly black skulls running through the carpet. Soft jazz music hummed through the speakers and into the back, which filled the entire space. Throughout the car were little outlets of tvs, food trays, wine selections, glasses, ice, and liquor.

He released a breathy chuckle, "Please stop gaping at my car. I was in a hurry and couldn't decide which car to bring so I chose the most dull one I could find, seeing as I wanted to appeal to your commoners taste."

I couldn't help but climb in, so astounded by the car that I decided to ignore that little comment about commoners, "This is  _dull_ to you people?" The seats were so plush as I sat and the music was so soothing. Then Jaga stepped inside, ruining my moment of happiness and with painstakingly clear view, I saw him shut the door after himself and lock it.

When he sat down, the sight struck me about how stupid I was. Right above his head rested a large gun case, just in reach. Each gun was red or black with a large crystal skull in the butt of them. The eyes glinted at me in macabre winks. Jaga put a few ice cubes in a glass before pouring a thick brown liquor in it. He extended the glass to me, "A drink, Miss Fujioka?"

I politely pushed his, shaking my head as I declined, sitting stiffly in the chair, "Sorry but I don't drink."

He smirked, sitting back, so relaxed and completely cool against the seat, stretched out, "Your loss." He took a drink, punching a button as he spoke into it. "Driver, get us to Tablu for our reservation. Take your time." After a second, the vehicle slowly rolled into life.

A thought occurred to me suddenly. I hadn't heard from the 'Friendly Society' in a while. They had gone kind of silent for the past few days. I looked over at Jaga, pursing my lips and looking over him, "So why do you work for those people?"

Taking a swig of his drink, he examined me over the rim of the glass, his eyes searching the depths of my face. Finally, he lowered the glass, his lips twisting up into a deadly smile, "You look pretty tonight. Did you pick out what you're wearing?"

I blinked, completely caught off guard by the question. Looking down, I found myself fingering the fabric of the sweater, "That doesn't answer my question."

He leaned his head back against the top of the seat so he had a very clear view of the gun rack above him, "Do you wanna know how I got the name 'The Jaguar?'"

I stared at him, unsure what to say to the question. Sitting up, he gazed down at the contents of his drink, "Most people think it's because of my looks." He released a low chuckle at that, "Looks that could kill. My father named me Jaga from the old Japanese word for 'Jaguar.' If only he knew how accurate that would be. You see, jaguars have this nasty habit of dragging their prey into a tree before they eat them. Well, if my father ever told me to get rid of somebody or I had to deal with traitors, I would simply break their legs and hang them up in a tree feet first of course.

"I use to wear these silver claws on my hands at the time, and I would reach up to their belt, and slowly drag the nail until it hit their throat," he put a hand at the base of his stomach, going slow until he reached his throat, finger pointed like a claw for emphasis. A low chuckle emitted from his throat, "Let's just say, my pet jaguar was fed well."

After he was finished telling the story, I looked away, closing my eyes, "Now will you answer my questions?"

I heard the clink of the glass as he tapped on it with his ring and the slow chuckle that bubbled up, "Patience now. The fun is just beginning."

o0o

When we pulled up, we were at a fancy restaurant by the name of Tablu. It was some sort of Italian restaurant, and I knew it was fancy because I'd never heard of it before. Honestly, I just wanted to get out of the vehicle. As soon as we pulled into the front space, Jaga set down his drink in a slot, standing to hold the door open for me. He had barely pushed the door open before I spilled out on the pavement to drink up the open night air gratefully. Behind, he stepped out, closing it and placing a hand on the door to close it. The car drove off. "That's funny," he said, coming up and tugging me close to put his arm around my shoulders. "It's almost like you're trying to get away from me, Haruhi?"

His breath tickled my ear and I flinched, pulling away, "That is funny, because that's exactly what I was trying to do."

Letting me slip through his fingers, he smirked, making a claw in his hand for emphasis, "Meow. Someone's acting catty tonight. I can already tell that this is going to be a fun date." His voice hit a serious tone, "Now get inside."  
Giving me a slight push, I stumbled inside the large black doors. Inside was like a whole new world. There was low lighting, and what light did come through was in red shafts through the sides or walls. Straight ahead was a dark statue of a bull writhing in rage, hooves pawing endlessly tail flicked behind it, frozen in place as its head was tilted slightly to the left, muscles teeming and tensed in the fierce position. A matador stood at the bull's side, sweeping his arms in a grand flourish as the bull's horn barely missed him, holding his sword in one hand. Only now did I see that the bull's hide was littered with multicolored knives, all sticking out in crude fashions, and the matador's sword, I saw at last, was ran through the bull, straight into the bull's heart. I looked away, overwhelmed with the thought of the scene. I knew what matadors did. I've seen the pictures and videos of what happened, but I'd never taken a liking to the bloody sport. Up until now, I'd always seen the bull as the monster, but now I knew that they were in fact the victims. I tried to look anywhere but the statue.

Low music hummed in the place, along with the buzz of conversation and the light clatter of dishes. The workers were black and white suits and the customers wore only the finest of dresses or tuxs, which made me feel very self conscious under my fleece sweater and blue jeans. Candles winked at every table, and each table was outfitted in a simple white cloth and a vase of a single rose. At the bar, the decantors and the bottles all glimmered in the light as a bartender shook up a concoction in a mixing cup. An assortment of men and women sat at the bar, chatting quietly or smoking. A group of girls looked at Jaga and giggled, pointing and checking him out. I scoffed,  _Take him if you want._  A waiter walked up, "Welcome to Tablu. What's your reservation?"

"Akuma," Jaga said, popping his neck.

Jaga didn't see the waiter's eyes widen slightly at the name, then gulp, "Right, this way, sir. Reservation for two." He grabbed two menus, seating us in a secluded booth.

I took my side on the booth, sliding into the dark leather seat. Jaga sat opposite as the waiter put our menus on the table, "What will you be having to drink this evening?"

"Water," I replied instantly upon instinct.

"She'll have the strawberry daiquiri, and bring her your finest peach margarita. I'll take a few shots of Jamacan rum, and just bring the whole bottle of vodka." Jaga interrupted, an evil glint taking his eyes.

The waiter paused, "I'm afraid I'll need to see your liscense, sir."

Jaga raised his eyebrows, releasing a chuckle, "Excuse me?"

He gulped, "Sir, I-"

"Run that by me again? You don't need to see my anything. Your boss, Mr. Hashamoda, happens to be a close buddy. Now go get to our drinks, bub, or I'll have to have a little talk with my friend." When the waiter didn't move, Jaga jabbed him in the chest with a finger, hard, "Understanding me, tough guy?"

The waiter nodded, rubbing his chest, "Yes, sir. Of course, sir. I'll be right back with your drinks." He left.

Jaga sat back, stretching his arms out across the back of the booth, rolling his head back and closing his eyes, "So annoying. I hate little pests like that, that think they can just talk up to me like that."

I shook my head, "That was a very gross display of power, I hope you know."

He glanced up, leaning closer, "I'm sorry?"

"I said, that was a very gross show of power," I repeated. "Just because someone has a lesser job than you, doesn't mean that you automatically have the right to mistreat or talk down to them. A human being is a human being through and through. So just because you can attend Ouran Academy, and he's here serving tables at Tablu doesn't make him any different than you. I bet he's twice the man you are, and five times as nice."

He held a faint look of shock on his face. His mouth slowly twitched up into a smirk, regaining his confidence, "Just as I assumed Miss Fujioka. You are interesting."

The waiter came back with our drinks, sliding a gaudy red glass and a frozen orange one in front of me while Jaga got a tray of small shot glasses, oozing a thick brown liquid, and a clear bottle teeming with translucent liquor. The waiter pulled out his notepad, "There are your drinks and what shall-"

Jaga waved a hand, "Oh no need for that. Bring the chef out here. I'd like to give him our order directly." Then he looked at me, smirking with an odd twinkle in his eye. "His meals are to die for."

o0o

We sat at the table, the food in front gleaming in an assortment of Jaga's flattering arrogance. As soon as the waiter left us, I realized how far we were from everybody else. Jaga crossed his legs, folding his hands out in front of him as he opened his eyes and looked over at me, "Thank you for being so patient as I dealt with the servants. You may now ask questions."

Questions surfaced to my brain, bubbling up tenaciously, bristling for attention. I leaned forward, looking up at him, "Why me?"

He chuckled, pushing his food around his plate with a fork, "Why not? You have something that the friendlies want and they asked me to obtain it." He smiled crookedly at me from across the table.

I stared down at the food, suddenly reminded of the myth of Persephone. Hades had tricked her to eat the food of the Underworld, and she was forced to stay with him. I pushed the plate away, appetite lost at that point, "What do the friendlies want with me?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?" He smirked, looking over at me, "This is a date, you know. The least you can do is try to act like you're enjoying yourself. Here," he held out a bite on a spoon. "Try this."

"Are you serious right now?" I asked. "You want to feed me?"

He rolled his eyes, "If you want an answer, you'll do what I say." After a long minute of me not moving, he added, "My arm's getting tired."

Gulping down my distaste for Jaga, I opened my mouth and let him feed me. The food was exquisite, but he left a bad after taste in my mouth. I looked up at him, waiting for an answer.

Knocking back a shot of rum and setting it back on the table with a clink, he released a sigh of content, "You asked why we want you? Isn't it simple? We want to use you."

I blinked, glancing back to the statue of the broken bull, "Use me? Why?"

He smirked, "Down your daiquiri in one go and you'll get your answer."

Sighing, I looked down at the fruity drink. It glared back up at me, blood red and twice as bright. I'd never had alcohol before. It just had never appealed to me. Taking it in my hand, I took a deep breath and got just a little sip. It wasn't strong or stout. In fact, it was very fruity and delicious. Maybe it just didn't have a ton of alcohol in it. Without noticing, I found myself downing the entire glass.

My head felt instantly dizzy, and I had to steady myself at the table. Jaga had a wider smirk on his face, but all I could imagine was a jet black jaguar licking chops as it cornered me. It took me a second to form words, "Answer… please."

"You're the one that offers what we need most." Now as he looked at me, his eyebrows were raised, amused. "Is that margarita good?"

I looked down. In my hands I was holding the margarita and sipping it as he spoke. I had drained the glass. Promptly setting it down, I tried to shake the cloudiness out of my head, the thick feeling from my throat, but then the flavor hit me, the overpowering burst of tequila. I didn't know how I could place it, but I could, and it instantly enveloped me. The next time I spoke, it was a slur, "Wha-What were we talking… talking about?"

I knew that I needed to stay focused, but it was so hot in here like my body was just wafting heat. Was this what it was liked being drunk? I don't like this feeling of not being able to think or speak. My rational side was trying to stay awake, but sadly, that part was getting more and more cloudy.

Jaga chuckled. "You look a little buzzed. But what we were talking about was I bet you couldn't drink all this rum and vodka."

Some part of me was screaming danger in bright red letters, but the other part said bring it on. "Oh yes I can. Watch me." Daringly, I grabbed the shot glasses. One by one, there was no more Jamaican rum.

The taste was a bit stout at first, but slid down in a milky way, tasting like a faint chocolate.  _Not much alcohol, I guess._ My hand wrapped around the neck of the vodka bottle, and I pulled the topper out with my teeth. Like an idiot, I knocked back the bottle.

Fire ripped through my throat and burned all the way down to my stomach, my insides a blaze. Yet I drank the entire bottle, guzzling down the awful liquid. As soon as my lips retracted and the glass hit the table, the alcohol hit me like a brick wall and I knew I was at the point of no return. The harsh flavor bubbled back up in my throat, rousing a loud string of coughing to erupt out of me which turned into a snorting giggle (which never happens.) My gaze swept up to the man in front of me, who was chuckling. I couldn't help but laugh along. Leaning over towards him, I looked him dead in the eye, the ridiculous laughter still coming from me, "You know, you're really attractive…"

Even though my voice was a slurred mess and I was swaying, Jaga smirked, "Oh really now?"

My head nodded, and I felt like I was on a delay, "Yep." I reached out a hand, putting it on his chest. "And I would… would totally be attracted… to you… if you didn't have such an ugly, uh, heart."

His cold fingers wrapped around my wrist, placing a layer of cold there, "My, my. We need to take you home, dearest Haruhi. I'm afraid that you're positively, unfathomably and undeniably drunk."

o0o

The drive home, Jaga didn't say much. Probably due to the fact that I took up all the talking for him. I was blubbering like an idiot, ranting and raving about every little thing I saw. A strange look came over Jaga's face when we were almost back at the Hitachiin manor. I poked the skin of his cheek, "Hey… you're frowning…?"

He would simply grab my hand and kiss the knuckle, "Stunning date, wasn't it?"

Neither of us spoke for the ride of the ride.

When we pulled up, Jaga elegantly stepped out of the car and held a hand out to help me stumble into the drive way. He practically carried me up the steps, my drunk self just enjoying the ride. We finally got up to the porch, and I laughed, looking up at Jaga and trying to focus on him. He had the same weird look on his face. "You okay-"

I was cut off by the sudden motion of Jaga grabbing my wrist and pinning me against the wall. My brain couldn't think through my shock, so I just gaped up at him. He looked serious, brushing his thumb against my lips. One of his hands held both of my wrists together above my head, the other resting against my waist as his body got closer. "Haruhi," he breathed. "That was a good date, but I'm afraid I'm not done yet." He continued to move closer, close enough that his cold breath tickled my face. His chest was so solid against mine as he leaned down, tilting his face a little. With shocking clarity I realized he was going to kiss me. Our lips barely brushed, and then the door swung open.

Hikaru stood in the doorway, about as shocked to see us as we were to see him. Jaga was ripped away from me by the fiery twin, and I heard a punch being thrown and a pop as it connected, but I couldn't make out which belonged to whom. I stumbled towards the door, falling into a pair of strong arms. My face instantly buried into his chest, knowing it was Kaoru. I got lifted, feeling like I was floating up the stairs. Then I felt a soft bed under me, my bed, and then soft lips pressed onto my forehead. When I opened my eyes, Kaoru stood above me smiling.

"It's okay," He said those words, leaving me in the company of the maids. After about ten minutes, the gentler twin appeared again, smiling. "Haruhi, since you arrived at eleven o' one, you have to play the penalty game. Your penalty is that you must spend the night with Hikaru and I." His gaze shifted to the maids. "Please dress her for bed and lead her to our room. She's a little confused right now, so please. Be gentle."

I giggled as the maids lifted me to the closet. They took off my dirty, liquor stained clothes, dressing me in fine silk night clothes. Their hands were soft and warm. Each of them hugged me.

"We were worried, Mistress Haruhi," one said. "When you weren't home by ten, the twins became very jumpy and just about paced their feet off."

"Yes," the other added. "Even Mr. Hitachiin had Mr. Ootori on the phone."

I shook my head, "No… Don't be worried. Jaga… he isn't bad. He's like a, like a, uh, bull?" It came out a question rather than a statement like I'd intended.

The maids sighed, taking me and toting me down the hall. The walls felt small and tight in my drunken state, and I wanted to get to a more open space so I could breathe. I was tossed into this large room, very spacious with sage walls and wide bed. Hikaru and Kaoru stood next to each other, both shirtless, light glimmering off their slender bodies. Kaoru brushed Hikaru's hair back, showing the damage.

Three scratches covered his chin and nose, and blood swelled from his busted lip. Shadowing his eye was a throbbing purple bruise in its place. On his torso, the skin was littered with bruises and cuts that he'd earned in the fight. As soon as his eyes landed on me, he broke away from his twin and high tailed it towards me, placing each of his hands on my face.

He pulled me close, inspecting me, "Did that jerk touch you? Did he hurt you? Tell me Haruhi."

Normally, I would've pushed him away and told him I was fine, but my drunken mind could only think of one thing. I reached a hand out, placing my palm on his bare chest. "You're hot," I managed.

He blinked, then chuckled, pulling me into a hug, "And you're drunk. C'mon. Let's get to bed." He picked me up, setting me onto the soft mattress.

The twins snuggled up against me, the maids turning off the lights on their way out, leaving the bed intimate between our three bodies. They were so warm against me, their arms winding around my body and holding me tight.

Kaoru grumbled, wrapping his arms around my shoulders, holding me close, "Please, for our sake, no more dates with that guy. Or just don't do anything that will make us worry more."

"I'll probably do that," I said. "Again and again."

Hikaru sighed, sliding his rough hands over my stomach and around my waist, "You're going to give me a heart attack."

I giggled and I felt his face bury into my shoulder. "Thank you, Kaoru, Hikaru."

Both of the twins snuggled in closer, breathing in sync. In perfect unison, as only my twins could do, they asked, "Do you love us, Haruhi?"

As I felt my eyes close, my body slowly slug into the land of sleep, I yawned, "Yes, of course. I love you."

But at that moment, I didn't know who I was saying love you to just yet.


	9. The Benefits of Being Twins

"What on earth happened?"

Kaoru had called an emergency meeting for the Host Club, which meant that we all rush to school early and hold council in the abandoned music room 3. The rest of the group, even Kyoya, had show concern as to why we would be having an emergency meeting, and all of them had thought something was wrong with me.

 _What was wrong with me? I caused this, I guess._ We had all gathered in the room, huddled around Hikaru. "What on earth happened?" Tamaki asked again.

Hikaru's face looked even worse in the morning light, his eye slightly purple and swollen, his nose and lip puffy from where they had been hit repeatedly. Tamaki stood over the beaten twin like a mother fretting for a child as he cleaned up Hikaru's face. Kyoya sat in the back like a recluse, writing in his little black notebook, casually lifting his head back to glance at us every now and then. Kaoru stood loyally at Hikaru's side, brushing his hair back and placing his hand on his brother's shoulder. Hikaru had to constantly look up and comfort his twin, squeezing his hand and muttering that he was all right. Honey and Mori were running around apropos to Tamaki's orders, fetching towels, water, ice, or bandages. Tamaki looked back at me, "Well. I'm waiting for an explanation."

I wished that Tamaki had sounded more idiotic in that instance, because then it would've been easier to swallow the guilt, but he sounded so grown up and rational that it brought back the memories of that night when I'd heard the pops of skin hitting skin. "Well, you see…"

Kaoru reached out and took my hand, stepping away from his brother, "Haruhi came home late last night after her date with Jaga. Hikaru was taking out the trash when he saw Jaga holding her against her will on the front porch. He rushed out there and attacked Jaga. These, all the marks and bruises, are proof from the fight."

Tamaki stopped what he was doing to look up at Hikaru with a faint awe. He put down the supplies he'd been holding, "You really went out and did all of that, Hikaru?"

Scoffing, Hikaru shrugged, looking away, "Well, I did say I was taking out the trash, didn't I?"

"That was really brave of you," Tamaki nodded. "You took some serious damage during that fight."

"Please. You should see the other guy," Hikaru said.

Tamaki shook his head, "This is no joking matter, Hikaru."

"I'm not joking."

They each stared at each other, then Tamaki sighed, beginning to wrap Hikaru's knuckles in bandages, "Don't get me wrong, I admire your spunk and your tenaciousness, but those are the same things that are going to get you in serious trouble some day. If you don't be careful, you're going to wreck yourself, and none of us want to see that happen. You might think that you're protecting the people you love, but what happens if you get hurt? The people you love will have no one to look after them. You have a good and sound mind, Hikaru. It's time to start using it."

Hikaru opened his mouth, and then slowly closed it, not knowing what to say exactly against that. He closed his eyes, turning his head away, "Well, blame Haruhi for being so helpless. It's not my fault she was drunk out of her mind."

The room instantly turned instantly quiet, to the point that one could hear a pin drop all throughout the school. Kyoya's pen scratched against the paper as he halted, mid sentence most likely, looking up with a strange glint in his glasses. Honey and Mori paused, Uca-chan hanging limp from Honey's hands and Mori's arms filled with medical supplies. Kaoru's hand tightened on mine, color draining from his face, and he looked over at his twin, looking like he wanted nothing me than to wring his brother's neck, "Hikaru! We weren't supposed to tell them that?"  
Hikaru huffed and shrugged, "They were going to figure it out sooner or later."

Tamaki was still in front of Hikaru, slightly bent to work on his hands, his expression hidden for the moment. He had turned so stiff, back to us and I could see that his skin was very pale. Slowly, he muttering, "My Haruhi… was drunk…" After a few seconds, he spun around, eyes slitted and snarling at us, "YOU SHADY TWINS DARE TO LET MY PRECIOUS HARUHI DRINK AND BECOME INTOXICATED IN THE PRESENCE OF THAT CREEPY MAN?!"

I winced, covering my head with my hands. My brain felt like it was split with every single loud noise, like lightning was shattering every brain cell slowly and painfully, or like there was a frat party of death going on in there where everybody was wearing spiked boots and was playing who could make Haruhi's brain burst first. I was very thankful that everyone had also left the lights off, because I'm pretty sure that I couldn't make it with all that florescent light. Before Tamaki could let loose another volley of shrieking rants or rages, Kyoya tugged him back by the arm, putting a hand over his mouth. "Shut up, you idiot. Haruhi will already have a vicious hangover well into tomorrow. Don't go shouting and make it all that worse. Do you want her to get better or worse, moron?"  
Tamaki looked shocked, stepping back, "Right… Sorry Haruhi…"

Kyoya slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "And Hikaru. We do have the matter to discuss of your 'activities.' It would look very bad if a member of the club was involved in a fight or skirmish of any kind, so I will have to ask you and Kaoru to not participate in any club dealings today and to simply lounge in the back room out of sight of the customers. If one was to see you with those marks, we'd be bound to have a riot on our hands. Kaoru will tend to your every need and stay with you until that wound heals up, since we can't just offer one twin without the other. And to the rest of the club," he turned with a flawless flourish. "Business must go on as usual. And if Jaga is to arrive, he will be permitted to see any of the hosts, but only under a supervision. And we will be having a talk about what to do with one Miss Haruhi Fujioka after the club is closed."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

That day, the Host Club held business as usual, minus two devilish twins of course. The spare chit chat was buzzing my head already, not being able to focus on my work. Tamaki noticed made the announcement about after an hour, "Please, forgive me princesses. But I'm afraid we have a member of the Host Club that is sick, and has a terrible headache. So if you could please lower your voices. And don't be upset about it ladies. The quieter you speak, the closer we'll have to lean in." He smiled and some of the ladies swooned. Now the ladies were quiet because they cared for the health of a club member, or they wanted to be close to a hot guy. Either way, I was very grateful.

Even though the noise was reduced heavily, I was still having trouble producing stimulating conversation on my own, and that was shortly noticed as well by Kyoya. Every half hour he sent over a chilled glass of water and told me to drink it slowly to get rid of the hangover. I nodded to him, very appreciative. Slowly sipping the cold water, I paid more attention to my clients. "Sorry ladies, I feel better now. What were you saying?"

"We were asking what was wrong with Hikaru and Kaoru?" One said, putting a hand over her heart as she furrowed her brow with concern. "They're both alright, aren't they?"

"Yes," another added. "We come here to see you, Haruhi, but we are curious and concerned about the two of them."

"The host club just isn't as jolly without them. It's like you can feel their absence in the air," the other agreed.

I tilted my head to the side, putting my best gentle smile. "Oh, they're fine, ladies. I can assure you that. Whenever I got sick, the twins spent all night taking care of me. Hikaru got sick because of me and is having to rest in the back room. Kaoru refused to host without him, and has been back there with him to take care of him. I know that he'll be fine though. Hikaru is very strong, and Kaoru won't rest until his twin is better. I'm sorry ladies. I can't help but feel responsible that they're sick."

The clients looked up me, eyes swimming with emotion as they swooned. "Oh, that's okay, Haruhi. We still love you!"

I shook my head, smiling at them. Kyoya walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. "Do you mind going and checking on the twins?"

Looking up at him, I nodded, getting up and making my way to the back room. As soon as I got there, there was instant relief from the noise, and the throbbing in my head subsided. I looked around, and I saw Hikaru lying on the couch asleep. I walked over, smoothing back his hair. Kaoru walked over, smiling, "He's starting to get better. Nothing we can do really except rest right now. Here, I got you a drink. It'll help with the hangover."

We sat at the table, and pushed an orange drink across the top, nodding to me. I raised an eyebrow. "What's in it?"

He smiled, "Secret recipe."

Taking a chance, I gulped some down. Peculiar taste, but my headache was slowly beginning to ebb away. Kaoru set two identical cans of soda on the table, looking at them. They were a weird flavor, like orange puma or something, and I looked at him, confused. "Um, what are those?"

He chuckled, "Some weird soda I found for Hikaru and I. Weird right?" He moved his chair closer to mine so that I could see.

I shook my head, chuckling, "How do you know that Hikaru will like it?"

"We kinda have the same taste for stuff," he smiled fondly at the sodas. "Benefits of being twins."

"But, what if there's only one, or something?" I asked.

He looked at me, "Then Hikaru gets it."

I blinked, "Seriously? That's what you happens every time? Hikaru gets it every time?"

"Yes," he looked Hikaru's sleeping form. "He is quite possessive and he likes things for himself. So I'm used to letting him have things."

"Oh." I gazed up at him. "That sounds kinda sad, honestly."

He smiled, scooting closer, "No. Not really. He usually gets what he wants. But if it's something I want," he brushed some hair out of my face. "Then I take it, no matter what."

I was shocked, looking up at him. He smiled, leaning down towards me. His lips parted slowly, hand moving to the back of my neck and tilting my head upward. Slowly, he was leaning down to meet me half way. Our breath clashed in the same space, and I found myself closing my eyes. We were about to kiss.

Suddenly, Hikaru grunted in his sleep, shifting, sending us to awkwardly jump apart. He face was a bright red, and I'm sure that mine was the same way. I got up and nearly sprinted out of the room.

_What's wrong with me?_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The club ended, the swooning girls ushered out by the bell, and the members gathered around Kyoya who stood above them. "First things first," Kyoya reached down, putting his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "Haruhi is our priority. We can all agree to that one. So we must protect her. But before I make any suggestions, why didn't you call me when you were in trouble with Jaga? I could've helped you know."

I sighed and shrugged, "I don't know. I'm sorry senpai."

He shook my head and released a breath. "Anyway-"

"WAIT!" Tamaki butted in. "WHEN DID SHE GET YOUR PHONE NUMBER?"

"Moving on, idiot." Kyoya said, sounding bored. "Here's my the idea. We need to protect Haruhi, which means that we need to be around her twenty four seven, right? So… one of us needs to date Haruhi. That's my idea."

It was just straight quiet, everyone gazing at me in shock. That's when we heard crazy otaku laughing. Renge. "Yes!" she shouted. "Yes, I've been waiting for this! The perfect one must date Haruhi! YAOI FOR THE WIN!"

"But," Tamaki blanched. "Renge, what are you doing here."

"BUTT OUT, HALF BAKED PRESIDENT! DON'T GET IN THE WAY OF MY HOMOS! Now, let me break it down for you guys. I'll decide who Haruhi ends up with." She gazed around. "Well… It can't be Tamaki, because he's an idiot. And Honey doesn't act his age. And it can't be Mori because he can never love anyone more than Honey-senpai. It can't be Kyoya because he's MINE. CLAIMED. It can't be Hikaru because he'll get wrecked again. Soooooo… HARUHI'S DATING KAORU!"

I looked at Kaoru, and blushed again. I never had these feelings before.

_What's wrong with me?_


	10. Dirty Little Secret

"Wait a minute… WHAT?! WHY DID YOU PUT MY LITTLE GIRL WITH SHADY TWIN?!" Tamaki shouting, getting defensive.

Renge scoffed, "He's probably a better boyfriend than you will ever be. Oh! This is perfect inspiration for my Ouran Academy Moe Moe Volume 9!"

I looked away from Kaoru finally, the memories of our alone time crashing back to me suddenly. The faint blush remained on my cheeks throughout, "Uh… don't I get a say in this anywhere? I mean, this so called 'relationship' does include me right?"

"Oh Haruhi," Renge came over and patted me on the head. "Poor, sheltered Haruhi. Silly, confused Haruhi. You've been deprived of relationships, haven't you? Well that doesn't matter! So what it's a homosexual relationship and Kaoru is way out of your league and you might not even like men, BUT THE OTAKUS WILL THINK IT'S BEAUTIFUL!" She swooned, falling into me. "The thought alone can make me eat three whole bowls of rice!"

Kyoya shrugged, "I have no problem with that. The relationship doesn't bother me in the least and doesn't cost me any profit so by all means, I support it wholeheartedly."

"WHY, KYOYA, WHY?! DON'T SELL OUT TO THE MAN!" Tamaki got down on his hands and knees, tugging on Kyoya's pants legs, sniveling as his eyes filled with puppy dog tears. "She's taking my little girl away from me, Kyoya. Mommy, she's taking our little girl, we must-"

Snapping his book to a shut, Kyoya swung the leather bound tome down and hit the Host Club King in the face, curving his lip up in a cocky smirk, "Tamaki. Shut up and get real. It was never going to happen anyway. You're too much of an idiot, for her." He started walking away, Tamaki dragging from his leg like a stray toilet paper piece, "The sooner you can accept that, the sooner we can all get on with our lives, moron."

Tamaki froze, swinging off into a corner, slate pale. He stared blankly up at the ceiling, eyes glassy and mouth wide open. He curled up, regressing in his little stance of pitifulness. He made a hissing noise like a truck releasing air at a stop, "Ma."

"Great," Hikaru said. "Thanks Kyoya, you made the boss so upset that he's regressing. Again."

"You're welcome. That's what I'm here for." He waved a hand nonchalantly as he called back to us while walking away.

I rolled my eyes. "Sometimes I doubt my decision to join this club."

Honey was in a corner, pouting with Uca-chan, "Why couldn't I date Haruhi? I would've shared my cake with her. Both me and Takashi could've been her boyfriends. Now it's just me and you, Uca-chan."

I looked over, "Uh, I don't think that's how it works, Honey senpai."

"Or we not good enough, Haru-chan?" Honey asked, turning around pouting up at me with his large swimming orbs of honey brown.

"Why are you blaming me?" I couldn't take that look of Honey's and had to advert my gaze for a second, almost like a breather. Walking over to him, I crouched down and patted him on the back. "I tell you what, I'll eat cake with you every week. How does that sound? It can be like our own little date night."

Honey immediately went back to his extremely cute smile, beaming with happiness. "Really?"

I chuckled a little at his expression, "Yes, really. I mean it." I looked up at Mori who was looming over me silently with his watchful eye. "And Mori senpai can join us too."

"Really?" Honey gasped, then got up and giggled as he spun Uca-chan around. He climbed up Mori's side, sitting on his shoulders and I was suddenly reminded of a playful kitten sitting on the head of an old droopy bloodhound dog and tugging on the ears. "Won't that be great? Does that sound good to you, Takashi?"

Mori grunted, gazing forward ahead instead of up, "Yeah." His response made Honey giggle helplessly. I smiled at the cousins, and almost found it hard to picture one without the other. Suddenly, Mori flicked his gaze up to the smaller boy on his shoulders. "Mitsukuni. Did you remember to brush your teeth?"

Honey looked surprised, then nodded and smiled big, giggling, "Yep! All clean, see?"

Another grunt was released by the dark haired one and Honey grinned, tugging on his hair lightly.

Kaoru looked around, "I mean, I kinda agree with Renge."

"Of course you do," Hikaru scoffed. "She voted in your favor, after all."

"No. Not like that," Kaoru shook his head. "Listen. I think I get what she's saying. Think about it. Who would you think is the most reasonable of the group?"

"Kyoya," they all said immediately.

Kaoru nodded, "But the only problem with Kyoya, besides his lack of human emotion, his misplaced judging about what will benefit him, and his AB blood type, Kyoya has no interest in dating, plus he won't do it because he's taken."

"That's right," Kyoya said, writing elegantly in his book. "I'm not open to babysitting Haruhi because I'm taken."

"See?" Kaoru said. "Now, the next most reasonable would obviously be Honey senpai and Mori senpai, seeing as they each have extensive martial arts training. But, again, there are some major flaws in this one too. Honey senpai is more than capable of protecting Haruhi, but his boy Lolita stand point would only look creepy if they started to date. Haruhi would get a lot of hate for it, and we can't have that. Then there's Mori senpai, and it would be fine if they dated, nobody would judge, but then Mori would never be very committed because he is solely and wholeheartedly devoted to Honey senpai first and foremost. Therefore, those two are out.

Tamaki sat back against the wall, still in some state of pitiful shock. Kaoru slid up beside him. "Now see here. This is the next in line on the one to date Haruhi. Yet, his princely stature, the same thing that makes him a great candidate, also makes him a no go. The ladies will be in uproar if they lose their king. So it can't be Tamaki, plus he is quite an idiot.

"So it falls to the twins, and this actually makes sense. We are the ones who supposedly have homosexual tendencies, so it'll look normal that one of us is with a guy. Does it make since now that I would be the one to date Haruhi?"

The others all nodded in agreement. Renge gave a sigh of content, "He finally gets it. He has entered otakudom. My job here is done." She gave her signature laugh as she sank back down into wherever the heck she came from.

"Hey," Hikaru grunted. "You forgot about me, Kaoru."

Kaoru ruffled Hikaru's hair, "I thought your face would speak for me, you big dummy."

Playfully, Hikaru pushed Kaoru's hand away, "Yeah, yeah, make fun of me why don't you?"

Smiling, Kaoru looked away, back over to me, "But those are just facts and such. The ultimate choice is Haruhi's. You can date whoever you want, but you do have to date one of us. And if I may be the first to ask, will you go on a date with me, Haruhi?" He grabbed my hand softly and gazed down at my face, stroking his thumb against my knuckles.

I had that sudden realization again.  _Kaoru is adorable. He's the nice twin, and I see what all the girls love about him. He's sweeter, and kinder, and just the better choice for me right now. Hikaru is great, but he can't get hurt again, and he can really get mean sometimes…_ The choice is clear.

Without meaning to, I glanced over at Hikaru, then back up at Kaoru. Slowly, I nodded, "Yes. I'll be your girlfriend."

Kaoru smiled down at me, and everyone else kinda gave small nods of congratulations. Suddenly Tamaki jumped out of his phase and leapt at Kaoru, "YOU DIDN'T ASK DADDY'S PERMISSION!"

Kyoya knocked him on the head again, "Idiot."

Hikaru got up and stretched. "Well, I guess I should get out and get a girlfriend."

"Why?" Kaoru asked.

"We are the Hitachiin brothers." Hikaru shrugged. "It makes since that we each have a girlfriend. We do everything together."

"That makes sense," I nodded.

Taking a step over Tamaki's fallen form, Kyoya nodded. "I agree. And may I suggest-"

With a loud bang, the doors were pushed open by an extravagantly dressed woman, her wild hair pushed up and weaved with vines and different flowers. She scoured the small room like a hawk, her golden gaze sweeping the room intensely. Her bouncer stood behind her in a suit of black and white with some dark shades and a small smile on his face. The woman smirked, walking inside with her hands on hips. "Take a good look, boys. Momma's home."

Hikaru and Kaoru tilted their head, "Mom?"

I found myself blanching a little.  _Mom?_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The twins mother strutted inside in her fashionable and flowing dress, bracelets clinking on her wrists, and her very floral hairdo made her look like a queen of the Amazons, ready to strike in her elegant beauty. I used to think that the twins took after their father; the only difference was his eyes were a bit darker and his hair more of a brown than red. But their mother was almost an exact copy, just an older female version of Hikaru and Kaoru. In her wild and mystical appearance she all but floated in majestically, skirts fluttering behind her as she stepped closer into the group of the Host Club. Instantly, her eyes locked on me, and I felt a ping of fear but I couldn't place the source. Then, her smoky gaze found Hikaru and her eyes widened and she hurried over, regaining a sense of motherly humanism and losing her essence of immortal grace. She grabbed his face, pulling it up so he looked at her, "What on earth happened to your face, darling?" She turned with an angry expression at her bouncer. "And why did you not tell me about this, mister?"

The body guard took off his sunglasses and stuffed them inside his jacket, which made me do a double take because it wasn't a body guard at all. It in fact was Mr. Hitachiin. He scratched the back of his head nervously, "Well, darling, you see. It wasn't a major thing, and we got it all cleared up, I figured that I shouldn't worry you about it."

The woman huffed, stroking back Hikaru's hair, "Whatever. Go get us some water, Mr. Hitachiin. It's been awhile since I've seen any of these boys."

Mr. Hitachiin nodded quickly and rushed out of the room to get what his wife had requested. The woman smiled, ruffling the twins' hair, "My two little boys. Did you remember to brush your hair this morning?"

Hikaru laughed, "Get off our backs, mom."

"Yeah," Kaoru smiled, pushing her hand away. "At least we don't have a jungle nesting in our hair."

Their mother pulled away, a pout prominent on her face, "Hey. I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it just as quick-"

"I think you look stunning as always, Mrs. Hitachiin," Tamaki flattered, bowing deep like a prince.

Mrs. Hitachiin squealed and grabbed Tamaki, squishing his face to her chest, "Oh, Tamaki! How I missed your charming little quirks, you little rascal!"

Tamaki struggled against her, being suffocated, "Can't… breathe…"

She immediately released him, "Oh I'm so sorry! I just can't help it. Hanging around all you gorgeous men gets me so emotional!"

"Always a pleasure to have you in our company, mademoiselle Yuzuha," Kyoya stepped in while Tamaki caught his breath and acted like an idiot. He swiftly took her hand and placed a small kiss on the knuckle.

She giggled behind her hand, "Kyoya, you're such a stunning young man." She turned and ruffled Honey's hair, "And Honey, you're as adorable as ever. Mori," she squeezed his shoulder. "Strong and silent to the end, huh?" Finally, she turned to me, eyes searching over me.

"Well, dear. You're the Haruhi I've heard of. Stand up straight. You should trim your hair a little more if you want to look more boyish. Oh dear, your ribbon is tilted too much to the left and it's crooked. Who taught you how to put one on? Your vest is a bit too big for your body. It should be loose here and tight there, not the other way around. Hikaru, Kaoru, did you measure her properly?" She asked, looking back at them.

They gaped at her, identical gazes and symmetrical poses as well as they did that, "You know that she's a girl?"

Yuzuha raised an eyebrow, "Well, sons. There are a few differences from men and women, and from looking at her there are distinctly two things I can tell-"

"Mom, we know that part-" Hikaru said.

"-But even dad doesn't know about her yet," Kaoru finished.

She blinked. "Well then I guess I'll keep my mouth shut until he finds out."

The twins grinned, "That's why you're the best, mom."

"And one more thing," Kaoru scratched the back of his neck, giving a nervous laugh. "Haruhi and I are kinda… dating now."

I held my breath, watching any sign on Yuzuha's face, good or bad, ready to act at any moment. I don't know what happened, but I was suddenly sucked into a hug along with Kaoru and we were giddily slung around while Yuzuha laughed and squealed. "My baby's got a date! YAY!"

And of course, at that moment, Mr. Hitachiin walked in with some waters, and he frowned, "Um, Yuzuha. Please don't hurt the young men."

Yuzuha stopped and let us go, composing herself once again. She straightened and smiled, "Right. Boys. Let's go home."

O0o

The car ride home was just as I thought it would be. In the limo that we had, the driver sat in his own cab at the front, and we had a more extravagant space behind him. Mr. Hitachiin and Yuzuha sat in the booth ahead facing us. Which meant I sat opposite them, and that means that I was sandwiched by the Hitachiin brothers, each having no sense of personal space since they decided to use me as their leaning post. Though, I did notice that Kaoru seemed a little more reluctant to invade my space and that initially confused me, because knowing the twins they held back for nothing and went in head first. Could it be that he is tired and isn't up for the 'Let's Bug Haruhi' game? Could it be that he doesn't want to touch me…? I glanced over at him and he was staring ahead, a peaceful smile on his face, and he wasn't too close almost like he was holding himself back. I frowned a little, worried that something was wrong. Before I could say anything I heard a loud outburst from the seat in front of us.

Yuzuha was exclaiming to her husband what had happened at work recently, waving her hands in wide berths to describe the incident in more detail, "So Mika was so upset about my designs! She said they were too flashy and too overused. Can you believe that? So do you know what I did? I said, and I quote, 'You're face is too flashy and overused!'" She gave a big confident laugh. "She never saw that one coming, heh! I sure showed her just then. That's what you get Mika! Ha HA! Don't you think I had the better comeback, darling?"

Mr. Hitachiin was her perfect other half, for he just sat and listened to whatever she had to say, adding a few appropriate noises at the right times, "Yes, dear. You handled her properly."

Then they both kind of sat there, still and stiff towards each other and I could practically see the tension building between them like a solid wall. Normally, after a comment like that, a regular couple would lovingly hold hands or he would swoop down to place a kiss on her temple. I frowned, almost concerned for them. They didn't speak again until Mr. Hitachiin pointed out the weather and Yuzuha exploded back with a crack about Humidity.

Feeling like I was intruding on something personal I looked down at my hands. I remembered now what was said:

_"No. I'm not finished. What would you do if we reminded you everyday that your marriage is falling apart?!" Hikaru nearly shouted. He pushed his chair back, standing abruptly. The chair fell back with a clatter, him holding onto my hand tighter. "What would you do, father?"_

Ah. I remember now. A failing marriage. It seems so sad. Looking up at Mr. and Mrs. Hitachiin, they look like each other's perfect match. A yin and yang love story.

_"… Is your dad's marriage really in trouble?" I asked softly._

_Sighing, Kaoru glanced at me, "Heard that did you? Well, he doesn't want us children thinking that he can't hold his family together, but we all see through it pretty quickly. And we both know that once Hikaru has something on his mind, it's already halfway to his lips."_

_I snorted, "Isn't that the truth."_

_"Plus, Hikaru and our father aren't on the best of terms. Dad tries, but Hikaru doesn't want to give him a chance at all."_

I glanced up at Hikaru after recalling the memory. He was leaning on my shoulder as he gazed ahead with a very bored expression. Seriously. If we got him a cat, they could be identical. The feline eyes, the soft hair, the expression. I could just picture him as a lazy house cat, tail leisurely flicking behind him as he plans to dominate the world. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Looking back up at Kaoru, he was still shifted away from me. I frowned.  _Did I do something to repulse him? I mean, I brushed my teeth today, and my hair. And I put on deodorant. Wait… Did I put on deodorant…? Oh god is that it? Is he now coming near me because I stink?_ I sighed.  _That's what it is, isn't it. Oh, this is embarrassing. At least it wasn't hot out so if I did sweat-… Wait… I know why he's nervous. He's trying to give me space, and he doesn't want to seem too forward now that we're officially a couple._ I couldn't help but smile at the thought. Aw. That's actually kind of adorable. Smiling a little, I snaked my hand over and took his in mine, our palms rubbing together.

Kaoru blinked in surprise and looked down. Nodding to him, I gave a small smile, "Hey. It's okay." I whispered, "It's just me."

Immediately I felt his body relax next to mine, and he gave my fingers a small squeeze of gratitude. His breath warmed my neck as he leaned over, and all I felt was a small kiss placed to my ear and a short "Thank you," murmured. I felt myself get giddy at that, though I'm not sure why.

Hikaru leaned up. He moved away from me, still staring ahead, but much more intently this time. Feeling bad now that nobody was holding Hikaru's hand, I reached over to twine our fingers. As soon as I moved my hand in the slightest, his fingers slowly curved up on his leg to form a fist. He looked out the window, leaning on his palm as he did so. "Go get a room you two."

o0o

After we got home I felt in desperate need of a shower. I'd already felt like my stink had chased off my recently acquired boyfriend. Walking into my bathroom, I started a steaming shower and released an audible sigh when the hot water reached my skin. It feels so good and soothing, I just can't stand it. Pressing my head against the wall I just let the water flow down my stiff muscles. "This is what I needed."

I closed my eyes, "Well Haruhi. You didn't start your day out trying to get a boyfriend, but hey. You came home with one. Way to go. Way-to-go. I guess I can't complain, mom. He's smart, kind, and not to mention good looking." I gave a little laugh. "Usually I don't notice shallow things like looks or appearance, but now… I'm starting to consider stuff like that I guess… Mom. I wish you were here. I need someone to gossip with. I would do it with dad, but that's just weird, right? …Yeah. I definitely need you, Mom." With that note, I flicked the shower handle down, stepping out.

It's been a very long day. I ruffled the towel through my hair, patting myself dry. The mirror had fogged itself up, so I decided to draw a smiley face on it, just for the heck of it.  _Oh god. What's happening to me? I'm becoming… girly…_

I almost laughed at the thought, sliding on my pajama pants. Me? Girly? Those words don't even belong in the same sentence. I can't believe I even considered something like that.  _You haven't even had a boyfriend in twelve hours and it's changing you… Speaking of boyfriend. What would I wear on a date?_

Throwing a tank top I was going to sleep in, I looked through the closet in the bathroom for something that might look presentable on an actual date. I threw a few outfits on the counter and came back to the sink, washing my face and putting a few clips in my hair to make it a tad girlier. Shadowing a dress over my figure, I spun it around myself, fanning it out a little to see each angle. I held the dress up to myself, looking at it in the mirror. I smiled to myself. "Not half bad."

Suddenly my door opened and Mr. Hitachiin burst in, "Hey Hikaru, do you mind if I borrow some of your aftersha-" He paused as soon as he saw me, eyes widening. "You're… You're… F-female. Ummmmm…" He blushed faintly at the awkward situation, unable to look away, too stunned.

I stared blankly at him, holding the dress closer to my body, "Umm. Mr. Hitachiin? This is my bathroom. W-What are you doing here?" This isn't good. Hikaru didn't want his dad to know, I don't know his reasoning but I would accept his request and not tell my secret.  _But now he knows…_

"G… G… Girl…" He muttered and finally realizing the situation as he stumbled out of the door, shutting it and leaning on it after. The twins towered over him, growling as they looked down at him.

"You saw, didn't you?" They asked in unison, tones threatening and very harsh.

"Kaoru, he saw," Hikaru said, tilting his head to the left.

Kaoru nodded, tilting his head to the left, "Yes, I know he saw."

"How should we punish him?" the older twin asked.

The younger replied, "Perhaps we should tie him up and interrogate him on what he saw?"

"I say we just hit him repeatedly in the head with a bat."

"Bat, eh? Bats are good."

"Or a rock," Hikaru suggested.

Kaoru got a glint in his eye, "Oh, or we could-"

Yuzuha popped up from the hallway, "KAORU AND HARUHI ARE DATING NOW!" She chuckled, "Wow, I've been holding that in a long time. I can finally say it!"

"Mom!" Kaoru face palmed himself, releasing a sigh.

Hikaru grabbed Mr. Hitachiin by the collar, pulling him up, "Kaoru, get embarrassed later. I'll hold him. INDUCE AMNESIA!"

I stepped out at that moment, having donned my nightgown and combed my hair back a little, "That's enough, you two. Mr. Hitachiin didn't mean to come into my bathroom. I was clothed, and he was a gentleman and stepped out. Nothing to worry about. Alright?"

Apparently, nothing I said was heard because the mother and her sons (lined up in this order: Kaoru, Yuzuha, and Hikaru) all stood there and went, "Awwww. You're so adorable, Haruhi!"

I released a sigh, shaking my head, "You three are definitely a match."

"Oh! Speaking of matching. I got all the costumes needed for the upcoming ball," Yuzuha said and the maids ushered in three outfits.

Two of the outfits were obviously twin suits because they were each pure black with red pinstripes rising up through them. Each came with a black velvety tie and vest, and each had a mask that went down more on each side of the face, but mainly covered the cheekbones and forehead. Both of the masks were ebony and had horns sprouting up from the side while red streaks webbed through the darkness like lava. Obviously for my twin devils.

The other was one of pure white like the most untouched of all new fallen snow. It came with an elegant white cane that was topped with a red diamond, and glinting white shoes. The mask for this one was a pure white one that would clasp to the person's face, for it was obviously fitted for that. White horns sprang up, curving into the air like clawing hands, and a pure white fedora would complete the whole outfit. I sucked in a breath, staring at the costume, dumbfounded.  _The White Devil._

The twins clapped, "Wow, mom. They look great."

"Fantastic job, honey," Mr. Hitachiin agreed.

I released the breath I hadn't noticed I was holding, and closed my eyes, "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm kinda tired, so could you guys please get out of my room?"

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And of course, that day at the club, Jaga requested me.

I had managed to convince the club that I was fine and to leave us alone, mainly because I saw the butt of his gun peaking out. Stoically, I stared at him, waiting for a creepy proposition or speech like on our date. Or an explanation to our date. That would be nice too. Expectantly, I waited.

Jaga slowly ran his finger over the rim of his teacup, his sea green eyes searing into me. Hikaru had messed him up. It'd been a few days, and even through his concealer I noticed his blotchy eye and swollen lip. He gazed at me, eyes ever intent, and looked me over, "So. New boyfriend, huh?"

I stiffened. Nobody but the members of the club and the Hitachiin family knew of that, "How do you know that?"

He gave a crooked smile, "I have my sources. I was sent here today to just relay a few messages from the friends."

Sighing, I nodded, "Okay. What do they want me to do?"

"First of all," He paused, swirling his tea in the cup. "They say congrats on the relationship, and that we'll be backing up to give the lovers some space."

I blinked, sure that he was kidding. But he just sat there with that same look on his face so he must've been telling the truth, "Really?"

Jaga nodded, "That being said, it just means that we'll be watching you even more. All the time."

"But why?"

"We can't have our little Haruhi getting damaged, now can we?" He chuckled. "Look on the bright side." He leaned closer, "I'll be able to see you. All. The. Time."

Repulsed by the thought, I shivered, "Oh. Not creepy at all."

As he stood he towered over me, grabbing my hand and forcing me to stand with him. He kissed my knuckle, "I bid you a swift farewell, lady. May you dream of me tonight and-"

Kyoya grabbed Jaga's wrist and thrust it away, "I'm sorry but touching of any kind is prohibited, Prince Akuma. I thought we had discussed this on a previous visit. But now you know. Haruhi's time is up, please see yourself to the exit."

Jaga gave a harsh laugh, "Yes, of course, Princess Lollipop." He jutted his shoulder into Kyoya's when he left, causing the boy with glasses to shift his balance. Kyoya regained his posture, writing down a note in his book.

Tamaki popped up, "Kyoya! That foul bafoon was all over my daughter! AGAIN! Ban his from the club!"

"I can't," Kyoya said slowly, still writing furiously.

"Why not, Kyo-chan?" Honey asked, bounding over, followed closely by the gentle giant Mori.

Mori grunted, "Yeah."

Kyoya huffed, "I just can't."

"Of course you can," Kaoru said, walking up.

Hikaru was at his twin's side, "You are vice president, after all."

"No, that's not it at all." He threw his pen into his book, "There are just some things that can't be done with rules."

Slowly, I frowned, "Why, Kyoya senpai?"

Looking like he was at his breaking point, Kyoya snapped his book to a close, turning his head in a slow circle so he had all of our attention. He folded his arms over his chest and shifted his weight to one foot, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Jaga's my half brother."

 


	11. Mother's Day Special

At an eternal ball we danced, all night long he held me swift in his embrace as we spun and dipped all over the dance floor. The White Devil towered over me in his entire splendor, mystical looking as he pulled me closer by my long blue dress, dipping me low slowly as his face drew close to mine. I closed my eyes, unsure what we were dancing for, or why for that matter, and why was I enjoying it? He pulled me back up and my eyes reopened, gazing back at him as his dull amber eyes lulled me closer into his arms. I don't know how I could tell, but this was  _our_  dance, and this was  _our_ night, and that this was  _ours._  My chin was tilted up as he laid a gloved finger across my jaw, leaning down to connect our lips. I simply watched him, blinking at his display of emotion. Whenever he was just a breath away, a loud clang rang out and both of our heads snapped towards the noise.

A magnificent queen sat on an elegant throne surrounded by gold and rubies. Her golden crown pushed back her lovely brown locks, forcing them to cascade down her shoulders. An ornate golden mask of a woman in sorrow covered her features, and she tilted her head so it looked as if she were weeping. In her hands was a golden scepter, which she had banged on the floor to cause a clang. She was looking directly at them, a single ivory finger pointing at them. "Who are you to dance in my court?" Her voice rang out loud and clear, a very strong and feminine voice that carried and held authority.

I looked behind me and the White Devil had disappeared. Stepping forward, I bowed at this authoritative woman, "Forgive us. We didn't know. We were just dancing. We didn't mean any harm." Looking up, I planned to judge her reaction.

She grew very quiet, sitting back in her large throne and relaxing slightly. Her mask slowly changed into a mask with only eyes and no mouth, "I see. You are the one that I've heard of. Haruhi. The one with a complicated love life. The one who speaks to her mother, even though I am gone."

I blinked, unsure if I'd heard her clearly or not, "Excuse me?"

"Enough of that," she waved her hand as if to clear the air of our previous conversation. "Come closer, dear. Your mother has something for you."

Hesitantly, I walked forward. How did this woman know my mother, and why did she care about anything I did or my mother for that matter? The queen stood, meeting me at the foot of her throne. Placing her hand gingerly on my shoulder, she gazed down at me, "Child. You've faced many struggles. And I hate to be the one to tell you that you'll have one more to face. You see, deep inside you, there is a great conflict. And that needs to be resolved."

Frowning, I slowly returned her gaze, "Alright. What conflict are you talking about?"

She suddenly froze, and with one slender hand she ran a hand threw my hair, running it all the way down the other side of my face. Tilting her head to one side, she sat there with her stoic golden mask, one tear drooping from one eye, and simply admired my look. I blinked, not quite expecting that. "You have such beautiful hair, child. Such lovely hair. You truly are like me. Today, we'll be victorious."

That sounded strangely familiar to me, almost like it clicked in my head. I nodded, "Thank you very much for the compliment. I like your hair very much as well."

"Yes," she absently stroked her long locks of hair, looking down. "It is quite lovely. How do you think I won your father over."

"Excuse me?" I blinked, not quite sure if I had heard her correctly or not.  _Did she really just… say something about my dad? Who is this woman?_

"Anyway," she waved the subject away. "Back to the conflict of which we earlier spoke of. You've been faced with a grave challenge. Not one that many would so bravely accept as you have."

"What are you talking about? I never accepted any challenge!" I looked up at her in disbelief.

Her gaze slowly swept down on me, and ever so slightly, she shook her head, "You're his child all right. Just like him. And yes you have. The challenge of love."

"Love?" My anger vanished, and I was dumbfounded.  _Love? Who could I ever be in love with?_

She nodded. "That's right. Love. You've been graced with it numerous times, but haven't realized its excellency. So many times has Benzaiten smiled down upon you child, yet you never can see the miracles love tries to offer you. Open your eyes, and you heart, and love will always be able to enter. Okay? Do you understand?"

Slowly comprehending this whole subject, I nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Good. Now come closer, and look over there." With her golden scepter, she gestured to an ornate set of three doors that hadn't been there a second ago. "Each of those doors represents your love life choices. Three doors. Three options. The first door," She pointed to a white door with a demonic looking frame, all twisted up and very hellish features included with a little painted devil on it. "I sense… Devils. Three to be exact. They are more tricksters than actual harm, and are very protective of you, but insecure of themselves. They are just one of your options.

"Then to the second door," she continued, pointing towards the next door. It was much simpler, just a pitch black door and frame with an electric green door handle. "I see danger. So much danger. And Death. It rolls off the room like a fog that never ends. An animal… No, a jaguar is there. Chained and pacing like it's trapped, but acting like it's free. It scratches at the door like it can escape, but it will never try. Poor animal.

"The last door," Her scepter directed towards the third one, a simple, yet colorfully pink door. "I can feel the presence of a pack of dogs. Some from high pedigrees, some mutts, some with complexes, but all loyal nonetheless. They will come at your call and obey your command at all times, no matter what they are told, they will always protect you.

"Now I shall give you a taste of what each will be like. I will show you a glimpse, but at the end, you will return here. Understand?" She asked.

"Yes." I nodded, now sure that I was ready for this.

"Choose your door, and try your best, okay?"

For some reason, that too sounded familiar, though I shrugged it off. Making up my mind, I headed towards the first door, slowly opening and stepping inside.

The room was shrouded in shadows, almost like pure darkness swirling around the small space, ink swelling into all contours of the tiny place. Not able to see, I tried to step back outside but to no avail. The door had disappeared. I sighed, "Of course." Swinging my arms around, I blindly stumbled around. "Great. This is just great. Hello?" My head swung around, 'looking' for any sign that I could follow, or any light that might be usable. I was fine, but then something suddenly brushed up against both sides of me. Then two voices said into both of my ears at the same time, "Hello."

Turning, I tried to see who had just spoken to me, "Who said that? Show yourself."

Two sets of chuckles erupted from separate chuckles, one lighter than the other. "Why should we?" The lighter one asked.

"Because I asked you. It's polite. Come on, I can't see, guys. Stop playing games." I said, crossing my arms over my chest and facing the voice's general direction.

"Whoever said that we were playing?" The other voice asked. "You just assumed that we were, right? But you never know."

I huffed, suddenly recognizing the voices, "Wait a minute… Hikaru, Kaoru, stop messing around and get out here. I can't see anything."

A red light pooled around the two figures of the twins, all dressed in their matching black and red suits, their devilish masks snarling viciously at me from their respective corners. I took in the sight of them in suits and didn't entirely mind it either. They looked completely business, and ready to handle anyone who disagreed. Their golden eyes glowed in the dim lighting, the twins slowly striding towards me. Each took one of my arms under one of theirs Hikaru on my left and Kaoru supporting my right. I hated asking for help, but my twin devils were willing to help… and I really needed it. They started to lead me somewhere, so I didn't fight it, just closing my eyes. Kaoru held my arm like a gentleman, tucking it under his. Hikaru practically did the same thing, except he had a hand on my lower back, tracing soothing circles over the skin. I didn't even question it, just leaning into Kaoru until they brought me to a halt.

Kaoru gently released my hand with a soft squeeze, and I could nearly feel his little smile. Hikaru brushed closer against me, hands still holding mine and on my lower back. He leaned forward, kissed the outside of my ear, then painstakingly slow did he pull away. The gentler twin piped up again, "Hey Hikaru! Cut it out! Stop touching my girlfriend!"

Hikaru simply laughed from his corner, "Well, she isn't complaining." Stepping forward once more, he took my hand in his, pulling me close against his body as he waltzed us around the room briskly, carrying me more than anything. He laughed arrogantly, my face pressed into his warm chest. Only when he dipped me did he dare to whisper into my ear, "You're beautiful."

That happened to be the moment that Kaoru swept me away from the blunt twin, his grip gentler so. He put me on his toes and we sort of danced a small circle slowly and rhythmically. How this dance was so gentle, and Hikaru's dance was fiery and fast, I was reminded of the twins personalities. Even in the smallest of activities these two were so different.

A loud snap immediately quieted the twins and caused me to open my eyes. The majestic White Devil sat on a completely white diamond throne, so proper in the seat as he stared on with that somber mask. He looked down at me, motioning me up the stairs towards him. I slowly nodded, stepping up the small flight to the foot of his throne. And I'm not sure what took over me, but I bowed low, ready to please this man with my presence. I saw him smile under his mask, and he nodded, standing up for me, taking both of my hands in his. His mouth placed a warm kiss on each of my knuckles in tow, smiling at me between each one.

I slowly shook my head at the sensation, "Who are you?" I asked softly, more to myself than anything.

Apparently this caught his attention because he stopped and let my hands go. Slowly, he brought a gloved hand up to undo his mask. His reddish hair flooded over the white mask, his amber eyes glowing at me from behind the mask as it slowly fell off his face.

I was so excited.  _I would finally learn the true identity of the White Devil! Sure I thought it was Mr. Hitachiin, but if I was wrong…_

He slowly dropped the mask, and I could just make out the face. It was-

I was transported back to the original room with the queen.

**o0o**

"Welcome back, young one." The queen sat patiently on her throne, observing me with a stoic gaze. "Did you examine the first door to it's full potential?"

"Yes ma'am. At least, I think I did," I nodded, looking up at the decorated woman. When she motioned for me to go towards the second door, I nodded and shuffled over.

Resting me hand on the handle, I sighed, turning it and stepping inside.

This room was also dark, filthy light filtering in through a grate in the ceiling. Just as I suspected, when I turned the door had evaporated. The room was damp and dusky, reeking of limestone and mold like an old rusty cell, which is probably where I'd been taken. I brushed off my arms, looking around, "Hello?"

Two green eyes opened up from the distance, glowing in the dark crevices of the corner. They moved slightly, then I heard a wild and low growl from the corner, and chain links clinked together, rattling. I backed up against the wall, closing my eyes as I heard the animal snarl. Then the growl stopped and a human voice replaced it, "Calm down. I don't bite. Unless you're into that, y'know."

I blinked. This voice was familiar. I knew this. Slowly, I opened my eyes. The green eyes remained where they were, but instead of a bloodthirsty jaguar there was a figure of a man. Jaga.  _In all honesty, I'd rather try my luck with the animal._

"What are you doing in here?" I asked softly, gazing at him curiously.

He stood, the links of his chain rattling as he shuffled more into the light. All he wore was some black pants and no shoes, the rest of him bare. His body was toned and his muscles were defined in his tan skin, tattoos lacing all over him. A sneering skull rested on his upper arm, a blue Omega symbol rested on three columns on his collarbone, a red and black star resided on his shoulder, a snarling jaguar ripped down his torso, and a lively green snake slithered up his neck. His dark hair hung down in his green eyes, the little clip pushing some of it back. Gold glinted in his ear, showing off his earring. Only now did I see that he had a spiked collar around his neck. He scoffed, "I'm locked up, baby doll. I'm an animal. Wild and deadly."

I couldn't help but chuckling, "You say that a lot about yourself. You always try to seem like you're bad, but you're not. Inside, you're harmless. You wouldn't hurt a butterfly."

Jaga, as if sensing my threat, charged at me, the chains snapping taunt as he barely missed me, only an inch or two away. His teeth were bared, his incisors sharp and a deathly white which glinted in the darkness of the room. I could see the strain of muscles against his binds and the veins that crawled along his tanned skin from the effort. Although this was all visible, he wasn't straining at all. Poised to kill, his whole body. "Harmless? Truly, you must be mistaken." He said, his voice a low growl hinting with playfulness, his green orbs glinting against the shadow covering his face. Slowly, he rested his forehead against mine, his warmth flooding over me, "But… Not all of me is bad…" I felt myself close my eyes, leaning back against him with a faint sense of security. He suddenly pushed me onto the concrete that made up the ground.

His strong legs fell upon either of mine, straddling me, "You shouldn't let your guard down with someone dangerous like me, y'know." His voice hinted with a dangerous tint, giving the feeling that he wasn't going to pass along dominance in our current state without difficulty. At this close range, I could see the lines of ink marking his skin in more detail. The scales of the snake glimmered like his eyes, the crimson markings of the jaguar's claws on his chest looking darker than it should've been. I spotted the sharp edges of the star on his left shoulder, my eyes moving from his tattoos to the frame of his body.

A light sweat clung to his torso, making his magnificent bodice gleam in the dim light. Through my range of vision that I was granted, I saw the curve of his biceps on either side of my head, his aroma of rustic dead flowers invading my senses as my eyes then flickered up to him. His eyes withheld that same dominance that they held before. Then his mouth curved into a rather devious side smirk, his gaze locking with my own. "You know, Haruhi…a Jaguar can only stalk his prey for so long…" His words were quiet, as if meant for just the two of us. Then, his face moved closer to mine, ever so slowly beginning to close the gap. I could feel my eyes beginning to flutter closed as I parted my lips, awaiting the warmth of his lips on mine. Our lips brushed when a voice sliced through the silence.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the low, sexy, and all to familiar voice of Kyoya broke what ever intimacy there once had been. I turned my head, the feeling of Jaga's lips brushing along my cheek sending an odd sensation through my face as I tried to make out where the vice-president of the Host Club was.

Just visible in the light that was provided, I could see the sheen of his glasses, which was truly the only thing of his normal image that I could picture in the sight before me. Kyoya wore pants with a green line going up the side of them, covering his legs. He wore an electrifying green, button-up vest over a white dress shirt, his slender fingers cloaked by the white gloves he wore. Over it all he wore a long-sleeved red jacket, the coattail hanging down behind him. Blending with his hair, he wore a black top hat, it completing the whole look. A whip was held in his right palm, his fingers wrapped over it to hold it in place. He portrayed an animal tamer.

I watched as he flicked his wrist, the whip moving on his command and slicing through the air, the presence of electricity staying even as the whip moved down. He straightened his glasses, hand still lingering on his nose as he spoke. "Truly Haruhi…you have a terrible taste in men. First the twins, now this animal. Tsk tsk, what am I going to do with you?" The clicking of his shoes on the concrete rang through my ears through my current position, him arriving at our side rather quickly for his previously slow pace of walking. He grabbed the chain that bound Jaga's collar, pulling him off of me and up on his feet. Then, he put his hand on Jaga's chest, holding him an arms length away from himself. A gloved hand was reached down in my direction, my eyes meeting his grey ones. I slowly allowed my fingers to slide into his palm, him helping me up and proceeding to wrap his arm around my waist, pulling me against him.

"K-Kyoya-senpai…" I murmured in surprise, my hands falling on his chest and my brown eyes moved to his gaze, which locked with mine. We were close, my middle pressed against his with his arm around my waist and our faces rather close. At my surprised tone, I could feel a small chuckle rumble through his chest and a smirk rise to his lips.

"Now Haruhi. Why would you go for a kitten without a pedigree?" He asked, tilting his head towards the green eyed boy. Jaga growled under his breath and charged at us. Elegantly, he stepped away from me, swinging a leg up and kicking his half brother to the side. The boy fell to the ground with an oof. Kyoya made a little satisfied noise, poised over Jaga, grabbing his chain as he cracked the whip once over the fallen boy's back. Jaga hissed like an enraged animal, then slowly simmered down into a state of rest.

Kyoya dusted his hands off, "Now then. Off you go to the next door. I'll let you bypass the queen this time. And please, Haruhi," he opened a colorful door that hadn't been there before, holding it open for me. "Choose wisely."

As if a vortex swept me away, I found myself sucked into the bright room, blinking my eyes to adjust. I instantly knew the room. I had been taken to the Host Club. Members were scattered around a table, exchanging words and laughing. "Come over here, Haru-chan!" Honey grinned, motioning me over. I tentatively sat between the twins, Kaoru held me close against him, Hikaru keeping his distance.

"We were just talking about Mother's Day," Kaoru explained gently into my ear. I simply nodded, looking around at everybody.

Kyoya scribbled softly in his black book, wearing different clothes than in the last room, "I ordered my mother an extravagant bouquet, which she enjoyed thoroughly. What about you, Honey senpai?"

Honey giggled, swinging around Uca-chan, "I just got my mother what I thought she would like. Cake!" He smiled up at Mori. "What about you, Takeshi?"

"I got her a full body massage," Mori grunted. "She liked it. Whatever makes her happy."

I slowly looked down. Mother's Day was always hard for me. I missed my mother, and it hurt that I never was able to give her a present when the time came around. Tamaki reached a hand over, patting my knee gently, "Don't worry. I understand how you feel."

Blinking, I gazed back at him. He simply sat back and smiled. I cleared my throat, looking back at the twins, "So, Hikaru, Kaoru, how did your mother like her gift?'

Hikaru shrugged, "We dunno. We didn't get her one."

"Our mother is never around on the holiday," Kaoru explained.

I frowned, looking at them, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

"It's alright," Hikaru leaned over, smiling.

Kaoru squeezed my hand lightly, "As long as it's with you, we're happy."

I closed my eyes. Now I get it. I get what the queen was saying. I have all these choices, all these good candidates, all these good men, and I just have to choose. I'm not sure that I even like any of these guys. I'm not even sure that I'm ready for a committed relationship. But as I sit here, sandwiched between the twins, Hikaru's warm thigh against mine, and Kaoru's lively hand entangled with mine, I realized it. I was happy that I at least chose the twins first.

 


	12. First Kiss

I had fallen asleep in the club when I didn't have any customers, taking a nap in the comfy chair, and completely out as I rested on the table. Light filtered through the open window and onto my face, making me squint and slowly open my eyes, blinking around. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes straight, allowing to focus on the Host Club. The other hosts were serving the women, laughing so elegantly to please their little fangirl fantasies, taking them by the hand and telling them how simply divine they are. I almost snorted at them all, how different they acted with the ladies.

Mori and Honey entertained their guests with their contrast, Honey's cuteness, and Mori's strength. I looked over at the cousins, watching as Honey ate a cake that a princess had given him. The young senpai smiled and giggled up at the princesses as he chewed, crumbs all over his chin and Usa-chan close under arm. He grinned when he was done, having slurped off the strawberry, "Thank you princesses! How'd you know that I like strawberries?"

The girls chuckled, "You talk about it all the time, Honey-senpai."

"Oh yeah!" He giggled, trying to lick the strawberry juice off his lips.

Mori grabbed Honey by the chin, turning him to face himself, "Mitsukuni…" He took a napkin and began to clean the juice off of Honey's chin. "Don't be so careless. And brush your teeth, unless you want a repeat of last time." When he was finished cleaning him, Mori slid his fingers through Honey's hair, and ruffled it.

Honey smiled up at him, "Thank you, Takeshi."

The girls squealed, "SO CUTE!"

I rolled my eyes, looking to Tamaki, the "King of Ouran." And the Host Club. Girls were just flooding around him, the blonde of his hair now closely resembling a glistening golden crown, which seemed very practical right now. He stood, the girls simply swallowing the space to get to him. "Now, now, princesses. I have time for all of you. Now… where to start?"

Tamaki was hit lightly on the top of his head by a book, the owner of the tome none other than the Dark Prince, Kyoya. He scoffed, "Tamaki, you idiot. Why can't you just please the princesses all at once? Become a better host, fool." He began to stride away.

Watching him walk, hand tucked into his pocket, so elegantly stepping on long legs, I was reminded of what we had heard.  _This man was Jaga's half brother._ Now that I think of it, it made more sense than I originally thought. When we were first told, it had seemed very important and dramatic, yet none of us really reacted drastically like one would expect of us. We just kinda  _accepted_  it. It's hard to explain to someone who wasn't present to the situation, but basically, Kyoya dropped this bomb on us that he was related to the infamous Jaga. Bringing up the memory sent me into a flashback:

_**0u0 Flashback Time 0u0** _

_Looking like he was at his breaking point, Kyoya snapped his book to a close, turning his head in a slow circle so he had all of our attention. He folded his arms over his chest and shifted his weight to one foot, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Jaga's my half brother."_

_We all slowly looked at each other, eyes wide and trying to comprehend what had just been said by the Dark Prince. Kyoya turned his back and didn't face us, almost as if the stubborn man was embarrassed which was a first. Tamaki, surprisingly, was the first to compose himself in the group. He walked over to Kyoya._

_The dark haired boy scoffed, "Don't try and lecture me, idiot. I know that I shouldn't have kept the fact I secret, but I-"_

" _Are you truly related?" Tamaki asked, looking up at the other boy._

_Kyoya blinked, mouth slack, obviously not expecting that reaction. He instantly composed himself, "Yes. We share the same mother."_

_Tamaki put his hand on the other's shoulder, "If you say that you're related, then that's all the convincing I need. I won't question you. I figure you have your reasons on why you want to keep this secret. Don't worry. This doesn't change anything."_

" _But…" He paused. "Now you know that my family is impure-"_

" _That doesn't change what we think about_ you  _Kyoya." Tamaki smiled. "We don't care about your family. We care about you. And as long as you don't care about it, we won't either."_

" _Right!" Honey bounded up, hugging Kyoya's knee. "We love Kyo-chan. Not Jaga-chan."_

_Mori ruffled Kyoya's hair and grunted, "Yeah."_

_The twins both wormed their way into the hug, grinning. Kaoru laughed, "It wouldn't be fun without you, Kyoya."_

" _Yeah, get over yourself already. Stop hogging the spotlight, will you?" Hikaru nodded._

 _I simply sat back and watched them all. Kyoya just revealed this horrible secret and they were all reminding him why they loved him. They didn't get angry. They didn't ask stupid questions. They simply_ accepted  _it. So this is a family_

_This is true family._

_Kyoya looked at me, and motioned with his head, "Well come on, join the family."_

_At his words, I couldn't help but smile. So someone else had reached the same realization that I had._

_I went over and hugged them all as tightly as I could._

_I remember not wanting to let go._

_**0u0 End Of Flashback 0u0** _

So as I watched Kyoya walk away from the Golden King, I smiled, knowing that the dark and cool aura he was holding around himself was nothing more than a façade, a fake that nobody could see through. He would never let anyone see through that screen, but on that day, he let us glimpse it.

"Hey!" Someone bumped my shoulder lightly, catching me off guard. It was the beaming form of Kaoru, his orange hair tousled as if he had just woke up with it like that. He grinned, golden feline eyes looking down at me. Snaking his arm around my waist, he chuckled at me.

"Oh, it's you." I found myself smiling that I was in his presence. "What have you been up to?"

"I thought it would be fitting to come and check on my girlfriend." He leaned down and placed a small kiss on my cheek.

The skin where he kissed me felt warm and bubbly, and I didn't know if it was from his lips, or my blush, "I'm doing fine. Just bored. No customers right now."

"Let's ditch this place." Kaoru grinned, looking down at me, "Huh, would do you think?"

I thought about it, thinking of all the trouble we could get into if we skipped. All the people we might be hurting. "Oh, I dunno…"

He flashed me some puppy dog eyes, "Pretty please, Haruhi…?" He took my hands, beginning to back towards the door.

Finally, I gave in, releasing a sigh, "Fine, alright. I'm coming. Let's go!"

We quickly ran out of the room, giggling quietly as we received odd looks while hurrying down the hall. As he held my hand, I felt warm there, my skin all tingly, and my stomach in knots. I was really starting to like Kaoru. I tightened my grip on his hand.

I found myself not wanting to let go.

o0o

So Kaoru's idea of ditching for the day was going back home to just hang out, where we ran into Mama Hitachiin. After a small lecture, Yuzuha gave us a sideways grin, motioning back to our rooms and winking, "Have fun, you two."

And that's how I ended up lying on my bed with Kaoru, eating popcorn as we asked each other questions. Honestly they were useless questions like "What's your favorite color?" Yet somehow, I felt us growing closer with each one.

We both laughed, smiling at each other from over the popcorn. "Okay, okay," I said, trying to calm us. "So… If you had to choose between Wonder Woman, or Cat Woman, which one would you date?"

"Hmm…" He leaned on his hand, thinking about it. He looked so casual in his house clothes (blue pants and orange shirt) with his hair held back in clips. I loved the way he looked right now, and I found myself trying to savor every image that he gave me. He grabbed my hand, running his thumb over the knuckles, "I would date you, of course."

I chuckled, "That's not an option, but I'll accept it."

"Alright," he nodded, messing with my fingers, his warm hand soft. "So who would you date, me or Batman?"

"Oh that's just too easy. Batman, of course!" I laughed.

He chuckled, wagging a finger at me, "Hey! Easy, you!" Launching at me, he sent the popcorn flying, and pinned me to the bed, straddling me as he looked down at me.

My eyes widened and I had my mouth open in agape at the surprising movement he just made. He grinned down at me, resting on my stomach lightly so as not to hurt me. Even his hands only encircled my wrists just enough to pin me down. I could feel each move of his body above me, the tone feel of it tight and fit from my view. Light shifted down and encircled his head in a halo form, the canopy of the bed forming his 'wings', and the tassels looking like feathers. I wanted to save that image forever. Kaoru, my Twin Devil turned Lonely Angel.

He reached down and ran his thumb across my bottom lip, "You are so beautiful… Do you even know what you do to me without even trying? Can I just… Show you…"

I must've nodded, because his body started to slowly come closer, eyes half lidded as he bent down towards me. I closed my eyes, just waiting for whatever came next. I felt his warm lips on my forehead, slowly trailing down my nose, finally stopping at my lips and kissing me lightly. Our lips moved together flawlessly, slowly morphing to fit each other seamlessly. This kiss was very heavenly, the taste of his lips remarkably like passion berry fruit. I felt his chest rising and falling against mine, his warmth flooding into me and making my skin prickle.

How does it feel, Kaoru? How does it feel to be stealing my first kiss?


	13. Twins Are Effective

_**Last Chapter** _

_Launching at me, he sent the popcorn flying, and pinned me to the bed, straddling me as he looked down at me._

_My eyes widened and I had my mouth open in agape at the surprising movement he just made. He grinned down at me, resting on my stomach lightly so as not to hurt me. Even his hands only encircled my wrists just enough to pin me down. I could feel each move of his body above me, the tone feel of it tight and fit from my view. Light shifted down and encircled his head in a halo form, the canopy of the bed forming his 'wings', and the tassels looking like feathers. I wanted to save that image forever. Kaoru, my Twin Devil turned Lonely Angel._

_He reached down and ran his thumb across my bottom lip, "You are so beautiful… Do you even know what you do to me without even trying? Can I just… Show you…"_

_I must've nodded, because his body started to slowly come closer, eyes half lidded as he bent down towards me. I closed my eyes, just waiting for whatever came next. I felt his warm lips on my forehead, slowly trailing down my nose, finally stopping at my lips and kissing me lightly. Our lips moved together flawlessly, slowly morphing to fit each other seamlessly. This kiss was very heavenly, the taste of his lips remarkably like passion berry fruit. I felt his chest rising and falling against mine, his warmth flooding into me and making my skin prickle._

_How does it feel, Kaoru? How does it feel to be stealing my first kiss?_

**o0o**

_**This Chapter** _

I felt his hands slide against my body, the soft feeling of his skin moving over my arms and holding dearly onto my hands. One of his knees was between each of mine at this point, our bodies pressed together more and more as our kiss deepened. His tongue brushed against my bottom lip, asking for permission to enter my mouth. I was so freaking out. I had never kissed anybody before. How on Earth did this work? Was I supposed to just let him stick his tongue into my mouth? Was that the way that people kissed, or was he just doing that as a part of kissing? Being clueless, I just let him do it anyway, his tongue brushing with mine and slowly exploring my mouth. He tilted my head back a little, our kiss was a slow one that had lots of pent up passion in it, even though the kiss was shared between a kissing virgin and a boy who had probably kissed his brother more than anyone else.

Even though I was new to this, I was loving it. My hands had a mind of their own, twining up and around his neck to pull him down closer, wanting to feel the presence of his body against me as it moved. His arms laced our fingers together and it made our combined body heat more intense, the warmth spreading out ten fold. It felt like we were going to run out of air if we kissed any longer, but neither one of us wanted to pull away. Finally, Kaoru pulled away only slightly to kiss down the sensitive skin of my neck. I found myself gasping at the sensation. This was definitely different. Pleasant, but new. My eyes fluttered close and I slid my hand up his neck and laced my fingers into the soft confines of his orange hair, inadvertently pulling him closer to kiss my neck. He made my head fall back, gaining an even better vantage as he sucked on a particularly tender area at that moment. The feeling of his lips sucking on my neck felt so good, I laid my head back and released a small noise, my legs instinctively going up and wrapping around his waist, pulling him closer by that. His hands acted accordingly, moving down my body and sliding along my torso and finally cupping my thighs gently. He was leaning more into me now and I could feel every inch of him against me at once and I was astounded that we weren't merged into one person, judging by our distance apart. His lips kissed down slowly on my neck, sucking on my collarbone gently, leaving hickeys all over my skin as he blew cool air over them and leaving an icy and prickly feeling. I made a low whine and surprised myself with it as I felt him beginning to inch my shirt down so he could kiss lower. My brain instantly said DANGER! WARNING! I just got past kissing, I definitely wasn't ready for anything else  _remotely_ further than kissing… Kaoru's lips traveled down more and more-

Tamaki burst through the door, beaming brightly, arms filled with loads of probably unnecessary things like always. "Oh, Haruhi, my darling daughter! Daddy saw you left and figured you were sick so he brought you some good-" he paused, looking at the pair of us.

I was hanging off of the nice twin, arms clinging to him as if he was the answer to all of my prayers, the cure to my heart. And then Kaoru was draped across me in a very unflattering position, eyes wide and innocent looking (though what they'd been doing minutes before was far from innocent), looking up at Tamaki as if he were a child who had gotten caught eating cookies with cookie crumbs all over his face. And it didn't help that Kaoru had his hand pulling down my shirt and his face way too close to my cleavage to be up to anything 'innocent' or 'fair.'

The Ouran King dropped both of the things he held in his arms, face slowly turning red with anger, steam practically rising off of him. Hikaru popped up from behind him, shaking his head. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Poor little kiddies. Just were dying for some alone time, huh?" He walked over, taking a good long look at us. "Oh. You even marked up her neck pretty good. Way to go, Kaoru. Didn't think you had it in you."

Kaoru was now about as red as Tamaki, both for different reasons. Kyoya stood beside Tamaki, writing in his notebook. "So this is where you two ran off to? Oh my. Shame, shame."

Behind even them was the curious form of Honey staring at the two of us with a confused Usa-chan in his hands. "Takeshi… Why was Kao-chan eating Haru-chan's face?"

Mori grunted, putting a large hand over Honey's eyes, "Don't look, Mitsukuni."

And finally, like any good time bomb, Tamaki exploded. "WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU DOING WITH MY LITTLE GIRL?! NOW YOU'VE GONE AND CORRUPTED HER INNOCENT LITTLE BRAIN! DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL SATISFIED? HUH?! WHY YOU LITTLE PUNK, GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER! YOU'RE JUST THE HOMOSEXUAL SUPPORTING CAST!" He was nearly foaming at the mouth, shouting at the top of his lungs and giving Kaoru the ominous finger wag.

We finally untangled ourselves and sat up. I cleared my throat, trying to push away those crazy thoughts brought on by my inner hormonal teenager. Kaoru scratched the back of his head, not looking at Tamaki when he spoke, "Sorry, boss…"

"Hmph." Tamaki crossed his arms over his chest. "That's right. You better be sorry, you shady twin." He stomped towards Kaoru, fist raised like he was about to strike the younger boy.

Just as his fist was about to make contact with the orange haired boy, Mori hefted Tamaki up, holding him away, "No, Tamaki."

Yuzuha stood in the doorway, chuckling, "Boys, let the teenagers have their moment. It's love! Isn't it gorgeous? I totally ship it." She pinched Kyoya's cheek, laughing lightly as she rubbed his shoulder, then her laughter faded as she began to feel up Kyoya's arm for muscle. "Oh, honey, have you been hitting the gym? Kyoya, darling, know that you're welcome back any time, oh, baby, yes!" She let out a little purr, cozying up to the dark haired man.

Kyoya gave his smile that only the customers received. "Thank you very kindly, mademoiselle. I'll be sure to send you frequent flowers, Mrs. Hitachiin."

Hikaru and Kaoru suddenly piped up, "HEY! THAT'S OUR MOM, YOU CREEP!"

"Now, boys." She slapped her sons on the back of the head. "I love all of you, truly, but please leave my home. Oh! But Kyoya! Remember, anytime, baby… Now, boys. Kaoru… No, Hikaru, or… was it Kaoru… Whatever. Whichever one of you was tongue punching Haruhi's tonsils, give her a kiss, and go back to your room." She strutted out, nearly prancing.

Now that I was red as a tomato, I cleared my throat and looked the other way. Kaoru chuckled, "Yes, mom." He grabbed my chin and placed a sweet little soft kiss on my lips, which happened to send me reeling more than our make out session had. After that, he was promptly chased from my room by a raging Tamaki.

I fell back on my bed with a sigh.  _What am I to do with all these men?_

**o0o**

Even though the delightful make-out session felt like sweet, blissful heaven, what came after was a living, breathing hell. Tamaki-senpai was breathing down my neck 24/7, worse than usual. Every time Kaoru would even so much as glance at me, the blonde king would always intercept it. I released a sigh, honestly getting fed up at this point. I mean, this is ridiculous. He is  _my_ boyfriend after all. If Tamaki wanted him, he should just date him himself. So we decided to confront him.

"Look, boss," Kaoru started off, soft voice gaining a serious edge. "Sure, you caught us kissing, but that's what all couples do, sir."

I nodded, "You're taking this way out of proportion, senpai."

"HE SHOULD'VE ASKED DADDY'S PERMISSION!" Tamaki squealed, red in the face as he looked about ready to strangle Kaoru.

"Well," Kaoru raised his voice so that all of the club could hear, "I'm dating Haruhi now whether you like it or not. Nothing you do will ever keep us apart. Just watch." He suddenly swept me up against me and sent me into an exhilarating kiss. My eyes widened in shock, then slowly closed as I returned it.

All that could be heard were the cries of fangirls. They rose up, squealing at the sight of two of the host club members locking lips. Renge headed them, watching from her stage, leaning forward to catch every moment. The manager thrust her fist in the air and cried out, "I SHIP IT!"

All the other members gathered around, watching us as well.

Kyoya was restraining Tamaki, a knowing smirk growing onto his features. "Well. Look at that. The kids have moxy." He set his chin on Tamaki's shoulder as the blonde boy struggled, the dark one chuckling lightly to himself.

Mori held a large hand over Honey's eyes, Honey bobbing as he tried to see, "Takeshi, he's doing it again. Let me see!"

"Don't look, Mitsukuni." Mori grunted.

Hikaru smirked suddenly, standing, "Oh please. That's nothing." He walked over to Tamaki, looking at him. "Do I have permission to intervene, daddy?"

"YES!" Tamaki screeched, struggling. "JUST DO SOMETHING!"

"You want to get a real reaction out of the princesses?" Hikaru asked, walking over to us. "You got to make it a little interesting. Add a little spice." He pulled the two of us apart and grabbed my chin, looking down at me.

 _Oh my god. Oh my god. His face is moving closer to mine. What am I supposed to do?_  I mean, seriously. I just got over my first kiss with  _one_ twin, now the other one was lining up to taste my lips. My brain was freaking out as the space between us got continuously smaller. With eyes gentle, he caressed my cheek, calloused hands contrasting greatly against my smooth skin. Slowly ever pulling me towards him, our lips finally touching.

He tasted wild, fiery and hot, like spices and cinnamon, his lips much smoother than Kaoru's for some reason. His arms looped around my waist, so fragilely to pull me up against him. I almost stood shell shocked, then I began to kiss back. My hands knew exactly where to go; around his neck, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck they went. He deepened the kiss, our noses sliding together as our embrace became more focused and intense. I felt myself gripping this twin closer; I wanted more. More of him, more of this kiss, more of  _us._  All too soon, Hikaru pulled away, smirking down at me. "That's how you get a good reaction."

The girls were honestly chanting. Chanting about our love triangle and arguing about shipping names, most likely. Kaoru shoved Hikaru away, "Alright, alright. Get away from my girlfriend."

Tamaki looked about ready to blow a gasket, "HIKARU! YOU SHADY TWIN! WHAT WAS THAT?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"Hey," Hikaru chuckled slyly. "I asked for daddy's permission, and I got it, didn't I?"

The king of Ouran looked shocked, frowning to himself, "I… I gave you permission…" He suddenly started breathing strange and his eyes rolled back into his head, his body falling limp as he fainted.

Kyoya snaked his arm around the blonde's waist, catching one of his limp hands as he stared down at the unconscious boy, the position they were in looking as if Kyoya was dipping Tamaki in a dance. The fangirls now focused their attention on the two, about half passing out right then from excessive nose bleedery.

The Dark Prince leaned down to Tamaki's ear, lips gently brushing the lobe as he murmured something that the other would never hear. He scooped the unconscious boy up into his arms bridal style, standing up straight and smiling at the princesses, "I'm sorry mademoiselles, but I'm afraid the King must retire for the day."

Without another word, Kyoya turned on his heel and marched into the back room, a limp Tamaki hanging from his arms. He set the slumbering king down on a couch, grunting at the effort of trying to place him there, "God, you've gotten fat. You need to go on a diet."

Tamaki fell awkwardly on the couch, mouth hanging open as his head was propped at an odd position. Kyoya sighed, shifting the other's body and gently sliding a pillow and blanket accordingly in Tamaki's position. "Good lord, you're a lot of work."

"But," He knelt down beside the couch, watching the blonde as he slept, snoring lightly. "I suppose that why I…" He paused, then released a sigh, finally smiling as he swept Tamaki's bangs to the side. "Idiot," he murmured.

**Meanwhile**

I slowly put a hand up to my lips, pushing a finger around to make sure they were the same as they were before. Somehow, that kiss I just shared with Hikaru had been so much more enticing than any kiss so far with Kaoru. Now I had both twins on me, each of my twin devils.

Kaoru put his arms around me, kissing my cheek, smiling down at me, "Sorry. I shouldn't have let him do it."

Jokingly, Hikaru bumped our hips together. Where our bodies brushed together, I felt a shock. "Naw. She liked it. Though sorry. I mean, I would be jealous, but I found myself a girlfriend."

Time ticked slower. Hikaru had… a  _girlfriend?_ As is a significant other? His other half. I found myself frowning at that, but why?

He waved, heading towards the door, a smile on his face, "Alright. I'll see you guys later."

I stared at his back as he walked away, a frown taking me over.

Why did a thought of him with another girl bother me so much…?


	14. Through Jaga's Eyes

I remember that day clear as can be. The day I was assigned to Haruhi.

It just so happened to be the day I was to start attending that wretched school full of princesses and daydreaming idiots. What a waste of time. Why do the rich need to be separated from the poor? It's not like hanging with a few mutts is going to make a purebred act like a hound. And vice versa. If a mutt gets to eat with a purebred for a few meals, it won't start to expect it. Can't we all just get mashed into one daft looking building and get taught another brain numbing subject by a monotone robot together in peace and harmony for a dull eight hours? If it were my opinion, there wouldn't even be any type, form, or fashion of schools. Honestly. What good does eight hours of reading, writing, and arithmetic do that properly supports humans now of days? I mean, last week, there was this banker that I had to tail as part of my mission, and look at this big shot. He had spent most of his life in schools, training, studying, and learning. He had a squeaky clean school record, got every single academic award that was achievable, and had never even been to the principal's office before. Even when I followed him into his home, I remember seeing that he went all out, going to some fancy college in the states, obtaining five degrees in the randomest of research areas.

Yet, when I had him cornered up against a back alley wall, on his knees, kissing my boots and begging for his life, groveling, and pleading like the pathetic pig he was, he never used a second of the training that he had learned in the schoolhouse. Whenever I had beaten him into submission, and he had crawled across the ground, spitting out blood about how he had a family at home, friends at work, and a life to live, but not once did he say that he had to live in order to learn more in school. In that hour that I spent torturing that fat slob, he never once murmured an algebraic equation, not once did he state the first lady of the 15th American President, and not once did I hear the significance of the Nile River spill from his lips. So when I had my goons put him up on the wall in front of me, his gut hanging low since he was held upside down, his plump little face red as his beaten mug yelled up at me, trying to bribe me to stop. So when I dug my silver claws into his soft underbelly and tugged suddenly down, a satisfying ripping noise filling the air as his guts spilled out on the cold midnight pavement, finally ending his weak willed utterances. Pity he wasted his time in school reading about the effect of pheromones have on animals instead of learning how to be street smart. Shame.

But then again, I could never forget that day. It was a very strange day.

I had been alone in my room, staring back at myself in the mirror. The light couldn't bother to be turned on, so I had left it off, admiring the way that the shadows sweetly caressed my body in the reflection. My glowing green eyes illuminated in the night like an animal's, my gaze deciding to examine my form in the glass since I had been previously working out. My torso was defined with abs, my arms and back plagued with muscles, tendons ripping through whenever I flexed. A slight sheen of sweat went all over my body, covering every inch of me in the sweet serene privacy of my chamber. I released a slow breath, tilting my head to examine all of my tattoos. On my right shoulder was a red skull, crimson smoke encircling around it, the words "Revel in the Chaos" curling under it. Straight across on the other shoulder was a black and red two toned star, bold and brilliant on it's own. Barely visible was a brushing tattoo across my collarbone, a powdery blue Omega symbol resting on a couple of pillars sat there, very difficult to see in the lack of light. Flames licked over the top of my shoulder from the ornate inking of a fire breathing dragon that was snaked all down my back, taunt with muscles. I scratched my chin.  _Hmm. A tattoo would look nice there…_ Onto my favorite tattoo, the one ripping, literally ripping right down my chest. I had a tattoo of a black jaguar clawing down my chest, its claws ripping down over my collarbone, its snarling mouth open and its piercing green eyes staring back at me as if they were my own.

As if on cue, I heard the deep thrum of a purr, and some fur brush against my leg, and I almost laughed, putting a hand down at patting the creature on the head, "Did you think I was talking about you, Hakai?"

The black jaguar chuffed at me, giving me an amused green gaze as he plopped down on our shared bed, began to lazily lick his chomps. I shook my head and chuckled, "You're something else buddy."

My last two tattoos. Both around my arms. The first read, "May I Be Forever Grateful That At Times, I Did Not Receive That Which I truly Deserved." And the other wound around my bicep like a snake, "I Don't Want To Die Without A Few Scars." I smirked a little to myself. Needless to say, I'm thoroughly proud of my tattoos.

Slumping down on my bed, I ran a hand over Hakai's head, tugging softly at his ear. The darkness felt good in this room, and I personally preferred the lack of light. It hid everything that I didn't want to see when I needed time away from this life. It helped to silence their screams.

The door slid open a few cracks, and light flooded in, spilling over the objects in my room like a river would flow over stones in a riverbed. I looked up at the silhouetted body, and squinting, trying to seek out the face of the person who disturbed my peace.

Even though I couldn't see the face, the voice I recognized immediately. "Hey, Boss. C'mon and get out here, sir. Your dad has a new assignment for you to carry out."

I sighed, and then found myself nodding as I stood up, stretching out my sore muscles. "Alright, Blade. I'm on it."

The door shut, and I let myself build back down. Akiko 'Blade' Kenshi. He was the second in command of my little group. With his low bass of a voice, it's surprising any man has the resolve to stand up to such a giant. The reason he's called Blade in the first place is because of his weapon of choice. A three foot machete with a hilt made from the bones of victims. Pretty hardcore right? Well, it would be, except he treats the thing better than he would his first born. Everyday he takes the time to polish and shine it, gentle enough not to hurt it and careful enough to make sure it doesn't rust. Yet I've seen him hack off limbs with it with as much force as he would tend to it. He was a huge man. Truly intimidating, but he was a big softy for any of his weapons. Even so, he towered over any of us, his crude face and square jaw very blunt and brutish on his face, and his hair cropped close in a buzz cut. A scar ran down his face from his left temple to the bottom of his chin. He never would tell me how he got that scar, but I found out that his father was a very skilled knife thrower, and I put two and two together. The man was a brute, solid pounds covered him and slabs of muscles traveled all over his body, head to toe. Even so, he was one of my most trusted men.

I slid on a shirt, running a hand through my hair and deciding to finally walk out. Inside, I released a sigh, not wanting to leave this room, or Hakai. It's not that there was anything wrong with the people outside, or what our gang was formed on. It's just, everything's so…  _boring._ Nothing exciting happens.  _Ever._ There are a few moments in the heat of battle or when I'm tailing someone and am about to get caught, or if I get captured and am close to losing my life.  _That! That_ is fun, my friend.

Hakai rubbed his big furry head against my thigh and chuffed lightly, looking up at me with such burning green eyes. I chuckled and rubbed his head, squeezing his ear gently. "I know. But I'll be right back," I pinched his cheek, forcing his white canines to gleam in the light. "Don't worry big guy. I wouldn't dare leave you, my man. You're the life of the party!"

As I started out, I felt a slight tug on my trouser leg, pausing in faint surprise. Turning around, I saw that the jaguar had taken my pants with his teeth and was now giving me adorable little begging eyes. It snorted, nudging my leg. I rolled my eyes, crouching down in front of the animal, beginning to play with his ears and stroking down his shoulders, "Fine. You want to come with me?"

I was tackled by the large cat, chuckling as I felt his big rough tongue scrape across my cheek. Shaking my head, I sat up, patting him on the back. "Oh, that is just disgusting! I don't know where your tongue's been!" After a low growl from the jaguar, I got up and sighed. "Alright, alright. You can come with me."

We made our way in the long stretching corridor, my long bare footed strides silent on the wood floor as Hakai padded on along side me. My nickname, the Jaguar, has nothing on Hakai's nickname. Yes, my pet has a nickname, thank you. It's only because he's considered a top ranking member, right up there with me. And I quite like his name, if I do say so myself. The boys call him "Lightning Death." They call him that because he can kill a man so fast that he looks like lightning. The reasoning is just plain stupid, but I do like the name itself.

Half way down the hall, a man lurched out of the darkness of a room, running around wildly and flagging me over, "Boss! Boss!"

I couldn't help but laugh at how amusing this little man was. "Yes. What is it, Dark?"

The monkey thing of a man hopped around, laughing as he slashed a knife around excitedly, "Boss! You won't believe this! I need your help desperately!"

"Slow down!" I ordered, holding up a hand. Dark immediately stopped moving, shrinking back. "Now what do you need help with? Make it fast, I ain't got much time."

Dark took a deep breath and nodded, "So, I have these two witnesses that I'm suppose to be getting information out of… But they're no fun! They give me exactly what I want without me even putting up a fight! So I need some new interrogation methods that will entertain me. Because this is just getting sad. Blade suggested that I cut them with knives so that they'll scream louder. And Viper said I should burn them because their skin looks flammable." He suddenly stopped and let out a sinister little laugh, his high pitch voice way too scratchy and insane to be coaxing as he continued, "I'm very tempted to do my favorite method. I was going to make them fight each other and try to get answers out of each other. The loser dies and the winner gets freedom! It's such a good plan!"

"Last time you did that, you killed the winner anyway," I said, looking down at him.

He frowned like a kid being told that the Tooth Fairy wasn't real, all his hopes crushed, "Awwww, Boss. You gave away the surprise ending…"

"Anyway," I rolled my eyes. "The way to break a strong man is not to break his body. That cannot crush his determination. The way to break a strong man is not to break his mind. That will just render him a blundering idiot who can't tell his hand from his face. No. The way to break a strong man is to break his spirit. To watch his fire slowly drain out of him until he looks half dead already, no will to go on further. That can be accomplished either by killing his family, or forcing him to inadvertently kill his beloved ones. But even further so, to break a weak man, it requires much less than you can ever imagine. A weak man is subject to fear. Pain. Death. Petty mortal human matters. So use that to your advantage. The way to break a weak man is not to break his spirit, but to break his body. You'll have him squealing in your hand. Make it slow, and painful and building. Then you'll have won."

Dark grinned widely, then did a little bow, "Of course, sir. I knew I could count on your large range of intelligence." He zipped back off into the room shouting, "Time to die!"

I shook my head. That man, Kuro "Dark" Heisi, was something else entirely. Yet another member of my team. He was a short man, not because of his height but because he hopped around like a gorilla most of the time. We don't know why, but he tells us it was because of how he was raised. Which would make sense, because when we found him, he was coming out of the jungle like a mad man, covered in mud and shaggy hair in dread locks. Definitely gives the man a wild and animalistic edge. He is a sly little creature with spiky blonde hair and wild blue eyes that could pierce a sheet of titanium if he stared hard enough. Well built for any type of running, and he possibly can break anything with his hands if you gave him enough recuperation. I wouldn't be stupid enough to mess with him, even though I know that I'm ten times scarier and tougher than him. You see, Kuro has this thing that can be a major win or a major flaw, depending on how you look at it. Kuro is insane. Like literally, I don't know how he acted so tame just a few minutes ago. And you can act as tough as you want, you can be big and bad, but if you start acting insane, nobody will deal with you. People don't do crazy. And if they're stupid enough to attempt to fight you, then they're stupid enough to be dead.

Continuing down the hall, I was stopped just outside my father's door, a hand pressed against my chest. It was a man I knew well. A member of my squad. Takuto "Viper" Vashita. Some cat from the States with a real thick Jersey accent, a seemingly permanent cigarette set between his teeth. Like any classic American gang member, he had everything stereotypical; the black pants, the tight black leather jacket, the red undershirt, the black boots (which made father unhappy because he wore the nasty things _everywhere),_ the perfectly gelled up hair, and the extremely dark sunglasses. But no matter how cliché his get up was, this man was nothing of a cliché at all. He was a cold blooded killer. The reason he even came to us all the way out in Japan was because he was  _kicked out_ of America for a number of different offenses. Apparently, he was so terrifying, when they tried to fry him, he talked them out of it and walked out of the front doors with just a slap on the wrist. Because they didn't want to deal with him, they shipped him off to Japan. Japan hasn't been on good terms with America since. He's a major pyromaniac so if he's seen with a flame around him, he clears a room pretty quickly.

Slowly, he blew smoke out, looking me in the eyes, "Hey boss. I'd take it careful in there, aight? Big boss seems pretty angry at the moment. Would hate to see you get hurt, sir."

I scoffed, waving his hand away. "It's me you're talking about Vipe. No need to be worried. Plus, I got my secret weapon. Hakai's with me."

"Yes, boss. Deepest apologies, boss," He discreetly put a hand down and brushed it along the jaguar's pelt.

Finally, I made it inside my father's room. Since he was dealing with some other gang members, I just hung out by the wall, minding my own tongue. I wouldn't want to learn that lesson again.

Father sure did know how to make an impression. As soon as you walked in it was like a whole other world full of red skulls and swirling smoke. Red everywhere as if the last embers of a dying fire had been splashed against the walls, their breath still lingering throughout the dark and hazy room. In the base of the room, a stage stood, and a wicked black and red throne that curled up as if reaching from the pits of Hell, which happened to be where my father sat. Each looming skull was placed behind my father, the large statues made out of crystals, red light illuminating them and filling them with the eerie blood soaked color. Guards were stationed in the room, large buff tanks of men with big guns and even bigger muscles. Every guard had no emotion, staring blankly ahead like a flock of blindly guided sheep. And then, looking at my father, he himself would leave an impression all by himself. He was a stern man, no give in ways or methods. His voice was so powerful and menacing that it could make a grown man break down his resolve. Which has happened several times, by the way. Elegantly dressed in a black suit and pinstriped in red, he looked even stronger, a hand going up to straighten his red tie. Several large golden rings covered his fingers, a hefty cigar held in between them, the smoking cylinder used a pointer in the conversation, occasionally stopping so it's owner could get in a few puffs. His black hair was quaffed back on his head, a few grey streaks running through the locks. Father was a muscular man, his figure seen even under his opaque suit. Peeking out through the cuffs and neck of his suit, small amounts of his huge tattoo collection could be seen if you looked close enough, glimpsing the wings of an angel or the horns of a devil. Scantily clad women hung off of the man, rubbing up against him, and running their grubby hands all over him-

I personally wouldn't be able to stand that. I understand why men do, but, I mean, come on. Those women are  _strippers._  I have nothing personally wrong with that profession, I mean, work has to come somewhere right? But I wouldn't hire them for myself to have them hang over me like a blanket, putting their hands on my. First off, ew. They're _strippers._ I don't know where her hand's been. I barely want to know where my hand's been. That's disgusting. I don't know if she's washed her hand thoroughly, or at all for that matter. Please lady, there is a sink over there! Anyway… Where was I at? Oh yeah. Father dearest. This man exuded the very definition of power. Any fool who opposed him… well, I feel for them.

Right now, a man was sweating in his presence, head down and shame as he bowed low and shook his head slowly, "I'm sorry, Godfather Akuma. I have failed to complete the mission. The target killed off my men, and I failed to kill him. I've failed you, my lord. Please have mercy on my soul."

Father looked down at the man with scrutinizing eyes, stroking his little goatee, grey streaks running through that as well, "Oh is that so? Jon Geol, you've failed me? Hmmm. You'll be dealt with later. Because I respect your honesty, I'll give you a slightly less painful death. Take him away men. Put him up in the stocks with broken arms until I get down there."

With a silent and serene face, the man was hauled away by two of the behemoth men. Looking around for someone to fill the man's place, father searched around the room until his black eyes landed on the jittery companion to the man whom he had just ordered to have killed. He pointed at the lengthy man with his cigar, then put the thing between his teeth once more, "You. There. Go out and take his mission on your own two shoulders. Take care of the son of the Dai Lee Syndicate and bring me back his head as a trophy. Off with you now." Father turned to address me, and then was interrupted by the flea's endless rambling.

"U-Um, sir?" The jittery man began. "Whenever you say, 'take care of,' do you mean as in aid him in his struggles, or did you mean to kill him? I'm sorry Godfather Akuma, but you really must be more specific with your requests."

I saw the muscles in Father's hand tighten and I flinched, awaiting what was about to happen. The gang leader slammed his fist down on the arm of the chair, knocking off some ash that had collected at the end of his cigar, "I said that I wanted him dead. When I say I want someone dead, I mean dead. Dead does not mean alive and prancing all over my pride. I said it clear. Now, fail me again, and you'll be very clear on the definition of dead! Leave!"

The little flea scrambled out, running at full speed to leave the room and all the inhabitants. Father sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. The women all swooned over him, calling him names like 'Daddy' and 'Papa', asking what they could do for him to make him better. He didn't answer the girls, grumbling to himself. A grunt stepped up to his throne, clearing his throat, "Uh, sir. You really might want to be clearer on your wishes and requests. Some people might get confused from some of your terms."

Without talking it out with the man, without even looking up into the poor fool's face, father place's the barrel of a pistol in the man's mouth and made him swallow a bullet. The girls all jumped and screamed as the limp body hit the floor, the man's brain and blood scattered along the wall, blending with the paint. He tossed his gun to one of his men. "Clean this up before Mrs. Akuma gets home. She hates it when I leave a mess. And wash that gun. I don't want his filth to soil it." Finally, his eyes found mine and he nodded, "Ah. My son. Come forward. I must speak with you about a mission."

Little did I know, this day would change my life.

o0o

"Hmmm. Haruhi Fujioka you say?" I asked, then paused, remembering that name for some reason. "Fujioka… Hey. Isn't that the name of the lawyer that got uncle put in prison for fifteen years?"

Father nodded, combing back his slick hair, "That's right, my son. Haruhi is the daughter of the acclaimed lawyer. Brother says he wants her to join his ranks as a 'Friend', so he can get revenge on the mother, Kotoko. A petty wish, but I'd rather do something stupid for him than have the wrath of his organization come crashing down on my head all at once. Besides. Fujioka almost stopped the growth of this syndicate whenever she almost got my father convicted. That would not have ended well. So I guess that we have motive now as well. Reason enough."

I nodded, soaking in the briefing that my leader was giving me, "I understand. Now what exactly do you want me to do with the girl?"

"Oh, this is the fun part." My father gave a hearty laugh, which would scare most men, if they weren't accustomed to his chilling and grating laughter. "You will have many jobs on this mission. You shall be a messenger, delivering whatever message either me or your uncle demand of you to. You shall have to tail her every action and every move, anywhere she is, anything she's doing, I want you to know about it. Yes, that gives you permission to spy on our young Haruhi even in the 'safety' of her home." He chuckled once more at that. "Be sure to include in the report how lovely the young lady is. You can take her out wherever you want, and do whatever you want with her. Seduce her, take her, beat her. Makes no difference whatsoever to me. Even kill her if you please. Just make sure that you kill her after brother gains his use out of her. Just have fun with her. Play around. Nothing is more fun than manipulating people. You are young, use her as your toy as you will. But I must warn you. There is a catch…"

My eyes perked at that, Hakai rubbing impatiently on my thigh. "What kind of catch?"

He huffed, looking away, "It seems that this young folly Haruhi happens to attend the same school as your brother. That won't be a problem, will it?"

I remember distinctly what I thought in that moment.  _Kyoya Ootori. My half brother. Oh, revenge is so sweet._

Anyone who took one look at us could see the obvious relation. Each of us were tall with long strong legs and stretched torsos, our height and length not awkward or gangly at all. We wore our skin with elegance, each of us confident in our strides, and affirmative in our actions. Cockiness runs in the family I guess. I was more dangerous than him, though I wouldn't count the little four eyes out entirely. He had strengths of his own. We could both manipulate to get what we wanted, and we each had different ways of doing it. It is so unfair of our differences. Kyoya got mother, the kindest, nicest women that I've ever met, and I was left with a cold and stern father. Sure, I've seen my half brother's dad, and okay, he can be a little bossy, but with my father, if I screw up, there's no guarantee that I'll walk away with my life. Plus, he has siblings. Two stronger and great older brothers. I have diddly squat that I'm proud of out here. He's but a purebred, a "product of excellent breeding" as he likes to call himself. I'm a lowly mutt, the offspring of a few drunken minds and the heat of a one night stand. Most people think that I hate him. They could never be more wrong. Kyoya Ootori is a brilliant specimen, and I can never compare to his excellence.

I nodded, "Alright. I've received my mission. I'll take my squad and carry it out." Giving my best bow, I left my father, ready to giddily take on this mission.

"Son," He boomed after me. "If you fail this mission, consider yourself not my son anymore, and your life over. Understand?"

Even with that foreboding warning hanging over me like a fog, "I understand father. Thank you."

He coughed lightly, "Oh, I almost forgot. Take this." He handed me a green hair clip. Haruhi will be able to identify you from this clip

Gathering up my band of rejects, I went and left straight for Ouran Academy.

After getting all dolled up in my new Ouran Academy uniform, we went to go scope out my little precious Haruhi whilst she was at school. As soon as we got there, our rag tag group of roughens slinked inside as if we belonged, though it was obvious Kuro, Akiko, and Takuto didn't belong. I mean, a bunch of creepy looking older men in a private school was a little suspicious right? I turned towards my men, "Alright. New plan. We'll go around back and spy on them from there."

So then we all piled up outside, staring up at the windows in hope of seeking out my target.

"Come on," I mumbled under my breath, squinting up into the glass walls as I tried to find her. Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of her, and I was breathless. Such a petite figure, lovely brown hair, swirling brown eyes, so cute… I felt myself smile. "There she is. Looks just like she did when she was five."

"Where?" Kuro asked, swiveling his head around wildly to try and spot her.

Rolling my eyes, I caught his jaw and directed it towards the window, "Right there buddy. The little brown haired girl dressed in the boy's outfit."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on." Takuto held up a hand. "So, you have a thing for a guy, boss?"

I swerved around and slapped him across the head, "Easy! It's a girl in a boy's uniform. Why? I don't know. But still…"

"She's pretty," Akiko finished for me, grinning like an idiot. Whenever he grinned, it made the scar on his face split. "Where've you been hiding her all this time?"

"Nowhere," I shrugged. "I've only seen her twice maybe in my life. I guess I'm good with faces."

Kuro rubbed his hands together, the greedy little man licking his lips, "So when do we get to have some fun with her, eh boss?"

For some reason, the thought of all three of my boys going up to Haruhi and trapping her in a corner irked me. I knew what kind of  _fun_ they had in mind, and I wasn't so tempted to let that happen to this girl. The thought of Takuto smirking as he accidently burns her with the end of his cigarette while trying to mark up her neck, or chuckling as he touches her lips with his fiery hands and some of his cigarette ash falls down on her. Or the thought of Akiko getting his large hands all on her and squeezing her too tightly and accidently breaking down her fragile little body. Or worst of all. That animal of a man Kuro running his grubby little knotted hands over her body and degrading it with his filth, or if the man decided to go wild and beat down her body with his bare fists. Or, if all three of them were to swarm her, oh the thought of hot breath, the awkward gropes and squeezes, and the sounds of Haruhi's virgin screams as they-

I punched Kuro in the side of the head, surprising even myself whenever I released a growl, "None of you can touch her! Haruhi is mine. Got that?"

They all froze at my sudden exclamation, and nodded in unison, giving off a round of 'yes boss's.

I felt my gaze go back up to the window, admiring her figure through the glass. Taking a deep breath, I groomed a lock of my hair back and pinned it back under my green hair clip. "Alrighty then, boys. You can leave now. Papa's got some work to do."

As soon as I turned to dismiss my men, I heard a familiar voice behind me stutter out, "A-Akuma?! Is that you?!"

Turning around, a slow smirk crossed my face, "Ah. My good friend. Kasanoda. Figures I'd run into you. They got you in this stupid school as well, huh? Just blows, doesn't it?"

The red haired son of the Kasanoda stared at me in complete shock, "No way… I haven't seen you in years…"

"Ha, sorry to disappoint," I pointed to the scar that marked up my face, a thin stroke that went from my upper lip, down my lower lip, and continued of my chin. "Haven't seen me since you gave me this? Marked up my chin then tailed it."

"I-I-I, I never meant to do that, I am so sorry," He stammered.

I slung my arm around the other yakuza son's shoulders, pulling him closer to myself like we were the best of buddies. He was completely rigid against me, every muscle in his body wanting to reject my presence as if I were some harmful parasite and send me back into the depths I'd crawled out off. Quite amusing. I punched him lightly in the gut as if we were playing, which I kind of was. Toying with my prey. "Eh, what's a scar between two good friends? Not a thing, Ritsu. I don't blame you one bit. I challenged you to that duel, so I don't mind a few scars. Speaking of which, you didn't walk away unscathed either… Where'd I hit you again…?" I dug around in his left shoulder, and then pressed my thumb into the skin, making the red head release a breath. "Right there. That's why you carry your bag over your other shoulder, right? Figured."

Kasanoda gulped and pulled away, "That's right. How- How'd you know that?"

I grinned and did a little bow, smirking all the while, "Lucky guess? I may be a lot smarter than I look, you know? Anyway. I must be getting off. Class starts soon, am I correct?"

"Wait…" He paused, and with horror glanced down at my uniform, eyes widening. "You're attending school here now?"

"Hmm." I scratched my chin, thinking. I wasn't going to attend most classes, and I didn't need any friends from this place, but technically, yes. I would be attending. "Something like that," I answered. "Anyway. I must be off now. I'm sure that I'll see you later." I walked off down the school yard, leaving my men and a dumbfounded Ritsu Kasanoda in my wake, leaving that world behind as I stepped foot inside Ouran.

I felt myself smiling at the memory. Because that was the day I also fell in love with Haruhi.

o0o

Now we're back to the present, yet I'm still standing outside of the Ouran Academy gates with all three of my buddies, waiting for school to end so that I can catch a glimpse of Haruhi. I hadn't seen her in like a week, and the suspense was killing me. Not only did keeping my distance from her affect my job, it also hurt me. I wanted to see her, whether she wanted to see me or not. I know that I probably screwed things up whenever I last took her out and tried to plant a kiss on her.  _Really stupid of yourself, Jaga… I know it was, all right! Stop bugging me! ... Whatever…_

I slicked back my hair, hating it when I do this to myself. Whenever I messed something up, or find myself acting stupid, my inner voice ends up lecturing me about everything that I did wrong or could've done better. It's kind of a problem, but I learn to live with it.

"Where's that pretty little kitten?" Kuro asked, fingers fiddling with a piece of rope for some reason. "I want to see her again."

"Yeah," Takuto agreed. "Where's that dame at anyway? School just ended."

Akiko grunted, twirling a knife in his fingers as he stared out into the school yard, "I want to see her as well. Isn't that her?"

Haruhi came walking out of the school's entrance, a lovely smile on her face, and I swear the day just got brighter. No lie, she can brighter up this mutt's world. Seeing her bright face with that glimmering smile made my spirits lift and my chest swell. Why wasn't I allowed to see her again? Oh that's right. Because she started going out with that Kaoru guy. Not like he would put any moves on her. I should be fine.

Just then Kaoru popped up beside her like a loyal dog, openly holding her hand and praising her with smiles and jokes, obviously happy to see her. I cleared my throat, a tight feeling going on in my chest as if someone covered the muscle in cotton then held it there with pins.  _You better get your hands off of her, you little punk. I'll pound you into the ground._  It's fine Jaga. There's no way that scrawny little thing could ever do anything with Haruhi-

Kaoru bent down and pulled the girl closer to himself as they embraced, their lips colliding in an extraordinary kiss in which they put forth so much care into, I could almost feel it.

I stared at them wide eyes, opening my mouth then closing it again just as quickly. My chest felt as if someone removed the pins and were hammering nails into my heart until the stone thing cracked and broke, falling and collecting at the pit of my stomach. I covered my mouth, releasing a small cough, expecting blood to come back up from the pain I had just felt. This was unreal. All my energy just drained out of me as if it had been vacuumed out like my feelings were grains of dirt in the carpet of life. All moisture drained from my body like it was about to flow out of my eyes and form a river at my feet to wash away the betrayal I just witnessed. I wanted to punch something, but then again I also wanted to just sink to the ground and forget this life so that I could become nothing in this world so as never to feel that pain again.  _Huh. So that's what it feels like to have your heart broken._

The two lovers pulled away, and Haruhi rushed back up the stairs because it looked like she forgot something. Kaoru lifted his head high like he was the big man on campus, like he was happy just to be with the girl of his dreams for once. I tightened my jaw, clenching my teeth and began walking away.

Akiko looked at me with a concerned expression as I walked slowly down the yard, "Umm, boss?"

"Take him into the alley and beat him senseless." I ordered, bitterness filling where my love had been. I no longer wanted to see that smug little smile on that little face of his. I never wanted to be in such a fragile state because of a human. I never wanted to be so desperately in love with a puppy when I knew that the relationship was futile and she would never love me back. But alas. I'm but a mutt in a world of wolves, and my weakness will be dealt with. I haven't learned from my mistake yet. I'm sorry…

So I waited in that grimy little alley way, watching as they dragged his struggling body into it's depths and pushed him around, toying with the boy's weak nature. So I watched as Kaoru began to flail around, swinging his fists in an attempt to try and stop the men that were pounding on the smaller man's body, simply teasing him with what they could do. So I watched as they caused large bruises to form all over his pale body, the purple welts on his face and torso already showing and beginning to color. So I watched as he was cut and blood spilled from his nose, mouth, and other lacerations, the red of the liquid splattering on the ground as if it were raining down tears of the angels. So I watched on as the weaker twin fell to the ground and was stomped out, his fragile little body's only defense to their stomping feet was to lift his arms up, attempting to block his face. So I watched as they relentlessly pounded into the kid. So I watched as I heard his bones snap in defiance. So I watched as I heard his petty screams for mercy, his useless screams for help and rescue, his pleading for them to stop. So I watched as they beat the consciousness out of him. So I watched as they broke him, just like he broke my heart.

As soon as his limp head hit the pavement, I strode over, something inside me forever broken and snapped, this new side of my bloodthirsty and angry. I grabbed Kaoru's hair, pulling his head up, and began to scream at him, "You fool!" I socked him square across the jaw. "That was my Haruhi!" I decked him in the nose. "How dare you poison her with those lips!" I cuffed him hard in the ear. "You're weren't supposed to be in the picture!" My fist connected with the front of his face, and I felt one of his teeth begin to give. Panting, I looked down at the sleeping little orange haired devil, his swollen jaw, his broken nose, his bleeding mouth, his purple glued eyes, and his broken face, and my anger only built up more. I pulled back my fist one last time, releasing a battle cry of sorts before I yelled, "SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MINE!" With each word, I gave his face a good lick, each punch more forceful than the last. Dropping his limp body, I wiped my nose, feeling as if I were about to break through a wall or throw up my lunch.

I lurched towards the car, hand on my middle as I crossed the street, "Let's dump him."

Collapsing into the seat, I leaned my head back against the head cushion. I was sweating… No, it had started raining. I hadn't even realized. My clothes were soaked and stuck to my skin, damp and heavy now that they were full of water. I felt something else. A warm rain feeling that was coming out of my eyes, and I just now realized what was happening. I was crying. I hadn't cried since I was three, so why now. I sniveled, allowing myself these few seconds before the guys got in the car. Do you think they'd believe me if I blamed it on the rain?

o0o

We ditched Kaoru's body at the foot of the Hitachiin mansion, dumping out his figure as if he were dead, his limbs all jutting out at odd angles and making it look like we completely demolished him. I didn't leave the car. I simply wrote a note and asked Takuto to put it up there by his body. As soon as the note was placed, we left, skidding down the long driveway of the estate.

I stared outside at the moon, eyes still red and aching from my few moments of tears. This was a pain I never wanted to feel again. I was sick to my everything, just wanting to die, or at least kill myself so I wouldn't have to feel this pain anymore. The pain of seeing a person you love be with someone else was crushing. And even though I had just watched the life be beaten out of Kaoru, I know that I was the one feeling the agony.

I felt my thoughts drift to what I put in that letter, hoping it would reach Haruhi along with the sight of Kaoru's broken body.

I had written just too sentences:  _Please forgive my ways. Alas, I am but a mutt._


	15. When The Pain Leaves

Ever since we had come out as a couple, the fangirls have come multiplying. The relationship should have been scandalous, especially for Kaoru. I mean, first all he was in a romantic innuendo status with his own twin brother, and now two of the Host Club members had gotten together, and the nice twin was mingling with a commoner boy of all people! Though no one really thought it was scandalous, I guess because the whole "Brotherly Love" thing was a pretty bold already, the girls weren't surprised at much from the Hitachiin twins. People would request for us to kiss each other in front of them, or to cuddle for extended periods of time. It wasn't that bad… I got to spend time with him more like this, and I enjoyed every second with Kaoru. It seemed like we spent all of our time together, first here, then at the house. The rest of the host club wholeheartedly approved of our relationship. Well… Most of them did. Tamaki and Hikaru didn't really like it. If I spent too much time over at the Hitachiin table, Hikaru would wave me away saying that I already saw the man enough. And if I was caught looking too long at Kaoru while I was in the middle of entertaining some ladies, then I would get chastised by Tamaki, him screaming some gibberish about "HARUHI!" and "DADDY!"

The others would play along with the whole thing. Honey would come over to us whenever a client asked us to do something together and give us samples of the latest cakes he had acquired. Mori would come find us if we would sneak off together, and instead of making us go back to work, he would grunt and ruffle my hair, then lock the door behind him. Renge was head over heels for our relationship. She set up posters around the campus, had a ton of Kaoruhi (our couple name) CDs, and was even slapping our kissing faces on T-shirts. And Kasanoda stopped by everyday, pulling Kaoru into the back room to have a talk with him. I am never told what goes on behind those doors, but it's been hinted that it involves threatening, dead flowers, and Kasanoda saying, "Hurt her and you're next."

Even Kyoya supported us, in his own twisted way. He called me over whenever I wasn't busy, "Haruhi, I have a business proposition for you."

I always paused at moments like these. Kyoya never did this type of stuff unless he had some sort of personal gain. I've chosen to tread lightly, "I'm listening."

"Why don't you start openly flirting with Kaoru in front of the princesses?" He suggested slyly, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"No way in hell, senpai." I said, not liking that manipulative sound in his voice.

"Oh really?" He was writing in his black notebook. "I'll lower your quota by a few thousand yen."

I grumbled, "Well, it's just a few lousy pick up lines, right?"

I knew that I was in trouble because Kyoya actually chuckled, a real, human like chuckle.

Slowly, I walked over to Kaoru, and bent over the back of his chair, wrapping my arms around his neck. My face was buried in his soft hair, breathing in the sweet scent of Kaoru, fingers finding his hand and lacing it with his. Placing the smallest of kisses on his head, I smiled down at him, "Hey… uh, Kaoru. Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?"

Kaoru looked surprised, "W-what? Did you just use a cheesy pick up line on me, Haruhi? What's all that about?"

"Oh, I don't know," I shrugged, acting like I didn't know a thing.

"Wait!" He exclaimed, shifting in his chair a little. "I got one! Did your face hurt when you fell from Heaven? Oh, wait, no! I didn't mean that! How'd it go again…?" The younger twin began to chew his thumb, thinking hard about a stupid pickup line.

I couldn't help but to laugh at that little face, so I moved to face him, cupping his chin, "How can you be so adorable?" I gave him a small kiss just for effort.

"Hey… Maybe I should start butchering pick up lines more often," Kaoru chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

Hikaru huffed from his seat, and waved us away, "You two are gross. You don't see me dragging my girlfriend in here and slobbering all over her. Go do that some place where I don't have to watch."

Kaoru suddenly scooped me up in his arms, standing, "So we shall! Away we go!" He rushed us out of the Host Club, Tamaki screeching after us.

o0o

I didn't even know that we had a rooftop garden until today. This is where Kaoru had decided to take me today, a private little getaway, with a gorgeous view of the Ouran campus, and the beautiful sky. The sun was easy right now, not too hot, and gentle breeze rolled atop the building where we sat. I leaned into Kaoru, loving to just be alone with him in such a beautiful place like this.

Easing back in his arms, I glanced up at his face, and couldn't help but admire how serene he looked whenever he was alone. There was such a huge difference whenever he was with me alone, and whenever he was with the others.

When he was with the others, Hikaru especially, he had this personality that nothing fazed him. He was the nice twin who would still tell you to go play in traffic. But it was almost like he was more mischievous and prone to do something that involved massive trickery. It was almost weird seeing him alone.

By himself, he was quiet, and much more kind. Kaoru went from Little Devil, to Serene Gentleman in seconds. It was almost comical, seeing him so peaceful and at his element.

My eyes traveled down his neck, spying the glint of a necklace under his collar. I blinked, sitting up and trying to see what it was. He glanced down at me, "What are you looking for?"

"Are you wearing a necklace?" I asked, running a finger lightly along the chain.

He nodded. Running a hand swiftly under the chain, he pulled it up for me to see. It was the orange Gemini split necklace I had given him. "You gave this to me, remember?"

I rested the little pendant in the palm of my hand, not believing that he had actually kept it all this time, "But why? Why are you wearing this stupid little trinket? You're rich, and your mom is a fashion person. Do you really want to be wearing this little thing?"

He smiled at me, taking my hand in his, "Because you gave it to me, Haruhi. That makes it special. And I'll wear it forever and always. It keeps me safe, because it has your love in it." He flashed me that big adorable smile, "So it means way more to me anyway. I'd rather have this trinket, than some stupid hunk of jewelry."

"Wow, Kaoru…" I couldn't help but laugh a little at him. "You're so whipped!"

"WHAT?! I am so not whipped, commoner!" He grumbled, folding his arms across is chest.

I released another little laugh, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek, "Don't be like that. I was only kidding. I like you being yourself. It's different."

"Good difference?" He asked.

"Great difference," I answered.

o0o

It was such a shock. Rain poured down in the background, but even I wasn't focused on that. Kaoru laid on the porch in a twisted angle, body all contorted in odd ways, his figure broken and beaten. The nice twin had been taken and roughed up horribly, bones broken, bleeding, and skin bruised. A note was haphazardly placed by his body.

Rushing to his side, my throat let loose a small whimper, "Kaoru… Who's done this to you?" Tears actually formed in my eyes, and down my cheeks. I gently hugged his head, stroking his hair, "It's alright, don't strain yourself."

The beaten twin tried to rise under me, making a faint grunt, then plopped back down in my lap, "Haruhi… Ow…"

"Hikaru!" I shouted back into the house, clutching onto Kaoru as though my life depended on it. His broken body was so deformed that I could feel bone raising out of his body, and his blood had covered a good portion of my clothing, but I didn't care. I couldn't let this man die, one of my twins was not allowed death, not by any means, and I wanted to live with them forever. "Hikaru!" I cried again, weeping over Kaoru's head, my tears landing on his face and streaking through the grime.

The older twin came down the stairs, a very confused look on his face, "What? What's the matter-"

As soon as he saw that his twin had been hurt, that Kaoru's sickly form was lying limp on the porch, he full sprinted out of the house. A disgruntled shout tore through Hikaru's throat as he fell to his brother's side, "KAORU!" He looked down at Kaoru's body, almost afraid to touch like he would break if he even breathed too heavily. Gritting his teeth together, he was choking back tears. "Who the hell did this to you?! Kaoru, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!"

He laid his head down on his brother's chest, tears streaming from his eyes as he whimpered out apologies. Holding onto Kaoru's shirt, he tightened his grip, curling up his fingers in the fabric and holding his brother closer. "Alright. Enough crying. Let's get you to the hospital." With a small struggle, Hikaru hefted Kaoru in his arms, jogging him to the car. He spread him out in the backseat and shed his jacket off, throwing it over Kaoru's form. "Haruhi, get in the back and sit with him, make sure nothing happens!"

With that we were off to the hospital. I sat in the back with Kaoru, his head in my lap, and I could see blood from the head wounds bleeding into his fiery hair, and I had to look away. Instead, I distracted myself with that note. Looking over it, it was a sloppily scrawled note with only a couple of sentences on it. It read: " _Please forgive my ways. Alas, I am but a mutt."_

It wasn't hard. An easy riddle with an easier answer. A mutt, crossbred, illegitimate. Obviously Jaga. Though… he is more of a bull. Anyway, why Kaoru? That one, I have no honest idea.

We soon pulled up to the hospital, and Hikaru rushed his twin inside, shouting at the doctors and nurses to be careful as they wheeled him off. He ran after the gurney all the way to the doors, shouting, "Take care of my brother! Don't you dare hurt him! He's all I have! He's all I have!" A few doctors actually had to push him back, and since he couldn't go after his brother, he plopped down in a hospital chair, trembling.

I slowly made my way towards him, easing my way in a chair. This was going to tear him apart. "Hikaru? Do you mind if I sit here?"

He slowly shook his head, sniveling. "No-o. Hey Haruhi?"

"Yes?" I asked, trying to look him in the face, but his head was bent so far down.

He took a shuttering breath, voice thick like he had a knot in his throat, "If I started crying would you blame it on the rain?"

I blinked. It clearly wasn't raining on the inside of a hospital, but we were soaked to the bone from the rain, so I could see where he was going, "A-Alright. Sure. I'll blame the rain."

Ever so gently, he turned his head towards me, and I could clearly see that his eyes were tearing up and his lip was quivering uncontrollably, "Really? You'd do that for me? Then… It's raining pretty hard." He suddenly began to cry hard, body wrecked with wretched sobs, body bent and shaking. Water flowed freely from his eyes, cascading down in large tears of pain and sadness.

Overcome with emotion by his sudden crying fit, I pulled his head down to my chest, and let him cry on my shoulder for a few minutes. He slowly twined his arms around my waist, liking the feeling as I stroked his hair. "It's okay," I whispered, brushing back his fiery hair. Placing a small chaste kiss on his forehead, I gave a little smile. "It's only a bad storm."

He sniffled, looking up at me, though feline eyes I once knew now puffy large pools of tears as he gazed up at me, "H-How long will you hold me?"

I paused, unsure of the answer myself. Suddenly, a faint sound of thunder rumbled in the distance, and I tensed, reminded of my fear, and the night that the twins had held me. Gradually, I looked down at him, repeating what he had once said to Kaoru about how long they should stay, "I leave when the pain leaves."

"Then," He gave a little strained breath, closing his eyes, his long eyelashes filled with unshed tears. Hesitantly, he rested his face in the crook of my neck, placing my legs over his so I was practically in his lap. "You'll be staying by my side for a while."

That was perfectly fine by me.


	16. Without Me

For hours, we sat in that waiting room, hours spent doing nothing but sitting and crying. I don't know how many minutes I spent there, just holding Hikaru's trembling shoulders. His body was wracked with sobs, his form a sniveling mess in my arms and I just held him, ready to be whatever he needed me to be. I brushed my hand through his damp hair, combing my fingers through the locks as I held them. His hair was so much like Kaoru's: thick and soft, like the cutest of kittens and I was so amazed that the twins could be so much alike down to every last detail.

I hated seeing my twins in pain. One of them, my boyfriend in fact, was unconscious in a hospital bed, machines whirring around him and pumping medicine into his veins. The other, my best friend, was lying in my lap, arms flung haphazardly around my waist like a second force of nature, crying softly into the crook of my neck and mumbling his brother's name over and over again like some sort of chant. I hated seeing the twins in pain. It made me hurt. The type of pain wasn't any form of physical pain that could be seen with the naked eye, or any laceration to be observed by a microscope, or even an infliction that could be examined with some type of a X-ray. No. This pain was the type that you felt deep within your heart, in the part that's most tender, past the sections categorized for simple things like breathing and pumping blood, and onto the part that is built for feeling love. And for feeling pain. Seeing them like this hurts. And it hurts me right there.

"Haruhi," Hikaru whispered, voice crackling when he spoke, throat thick with tears. He looked up at me, lifting his head from my neck, eyes all red and puffy from his tear filled hours with me.

"Yes?" I asked softly, feeling like if I spoke any louder our little barrier of silence would shatter. I twirled a strand of his hair, allowing the tuft to rustle between my fingers.

He sat up a little, closing his eyes as he pressed his forehead against my temple, his hair tickling on my skin as he stayed like that. At the same time, he tightened his arms around me, intent on holding me close against him for the time being. "Thank you," He said softly, and when he spoke, the words ghosted across my skin.

I almost shivered, then nodded, turning as I tried to give him a kiss on the cheek, and our lips accidentally brushed on my way. Neither of us cared at the moment, and I spoke gently against his cheek, "You're welcome."

After minutes of sitting out in the waiting room, the rest of the Host Club arrived. They rushed in, all of them with worried looks and tense bodies. Hikaru had laid his head on my chest, too tired to even glance at them when they walked in, morphed into my side basically. Seeing our close proximity, Tamaki almost went off, but I don't know what stopped him: Hikaru's broken spirit, or Kyoya's hand yanking the collar of his shirt back. I gave a nod up at all of them, "Thank you all for coming here. It means a lot to them."

"Of course," Tamaki said, seating himself beside me. "You're all our family. And whenever someone messes with our family, we are sure to be there for them."

Kyoya tilted his head to the side, sliding his glasses into place, "Though I'd prefer it to be 'whenever someone messes with our family, that person will have to pay for it dearly.'"

Mori grunted, placing a hand on Kyoya's shoulder, "Not the time."

Honey frowned, slowly shuffling over to the deflated twin. The tiny blonde male lifted up the pink bunny of his, offering it to Hikaru, "Here you go, Hika-chan. You can hold Usa-chan. He… He helps me out of some pretty tough times… So you can hold him right now."

Mori stepped forward like he was going to do the same to Honey-senpai, to put his hand on his shoulder, and to say 'Mitsukuni, not the time,' but he stopped.

Hikaru took the stuffed rabbit numbly, tucking it to his chest, still laid against my side. "Thank you," he mumbled half heartedly.

A nurse came around the corner, armed with a clipboard and some scrubs. She nodded to us all, "Kaoru is awake. You can all come see him now."

Leaning on me heavily, Hikaru and I, followed by the club, all made it into the dim hospital room. Rushing to the side of the bed, Hikaru collapsed next to his brother, fresh tears springing to his eyes.

Kaoru winced whenever his twin hugged him, giving him a weaker, one armed hugged, "I'm okay, Hikaru. It's okay-"

"It's not okay!" Hikaru insisted, refusing to budge from that spot. "I could've protected you! I didn't protect you…"

"No, Hikaru. You can't help what happened. Don't blame yourself. Please," Kaoru asked, bruised eyes half lidded, yet he had a smiling face.

I pulled up a chair for Hikaru, placing him in it and standing by his side, feeling strangely responsible for him. He took a seat, hugging Kaoru's arm and staying by his side.

Kyoya stepped up, seen without his infamous black book for once. "I hate to change the subject to such an unpleasant topic, but it must be discussed," He looked at Kaoru. "Do you happen to remember who did this to you?"

Slowly, the softer twin nodded, "Yes… Well, sort of. He didn't do it directly, but I know it was definitely him who ordered it. Jaga's henchmen roughed me up."

Everyone was silent for a moment, taking in the matter at hand. Absorbing it.

Hikaru, surprisingly, was the first to speak. "I'll kill him," he muttered.

"Don't be insane, Hikaru," Kaoru and Tamaki each said at the same time, staring down at the vengeful twin.

Tamaki shook his head, "Please. Think before you speak. You can't go and kill somebody. Kyoya, help me out here."

"Normally I would," the Dark Prince muttered. "But since it's Jaga, I don't mind killing him."

"Nobody's killing anybody," I said. "Okay, we figured out it was Jaga, so our next move should only be worrying about our security. Not about ending someone's life."

For a few seconds, everyone was silent again. Then, Kyoya turned and stared out the window, adjusting his glasses, "Well. I think I know what our exact next move should be. Because Kaoru was attacked out of all of us, and because it was Jaga doing the attacking, his motive was clear. He obviously has deep affections about Haruhi, and got jealous because of the relationship between you two. So, to prevent any more harm with the two of you, I suggest you break up. For your own health and safety."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Break up with Kaoru? But… I was really starting to like this boy… Really starting to like him. But, I can't have him hurt again like this. I like down at his poor broken body, unable to stomach the sight for more than a few seconds. For his protection, we would break up. Because I feel for him, I'll leave him alone. Slowly, I nodded, "Alright. Kaoru, are you okay with this? Do you understand why we have to break up?"

"I do," he murmured sadly, glancing up at me with pain in his eyes. That pain in his eyes, I knew it too well. That was the pain in one's heart, the one that demands to be felt like a searing iron on the skin. Yet, he put a smile on for me, "It was very nice to date you, Haruhi Fujioka. And to have you steal my heart… Well, I don't want it back. Keep it safe for me, alright?"

Making my way over to the other side of his bed, I brushed the hair off of his forehead, placing a kiss there, "Of course. I'll keep it right next to mine." I placed the Gemini necklace in his working fingers, and smiled down at him, "We'll always be friends though. Remember that, okay?"

He closed his eyes, a smile on his lips as his fingers tightened around the necklace chain, "Of course."

Tamaki looked away, joining Kyoya by the window. He sighed, looking up at the dark prince, his violet eyes tired. "Mommy?"

"Yes, daddy?" Kyoya asked, glancing over at him.

"I'm sleepy," he yawned, leaning into him, eyes already closed. "It's been a long day… Will you carry me home?"

"Not a chance," He said, but the dark haired boy was already carrying the blonde bridal style. "Between your thick skull and fat thighs, you'll weigh us down before we even make it to the car."

"HEY! I DO NOT HAVE Fat thi…" the blonde wound back down, slowly beginning to give into sleep.

Kyoya just gave a little chuckle, shaking his head, shifting so that Tamaki's cheek was pressed against his collarbone, "My stupid little idiot."

o0o

That day after Kaoru was admitted to the hospital, I think Hikaru and I spent every minute together. He wasn't taking the fact that his twin was hurt very lightly, and he worried about Kaoru constantly. It was obvious that the two were very reliant on each other, and because one was gone, Hikaru just sat on the couch like a man who had no meaning in life any more. He looked deflated, like a balloon with no air, and it was sad to see such a fiery being so quickly extinguished. I frowned, moving over to sit by him and to attempt to cheer him up.

"Hey," I said, lowering myself next to him on the couch. Hesitantly, I reached over and placed my hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. "You okay? I mean, obviously you're not, but… I guess what I'm trying to say is that is there anything, well not anything because knowing you, you'll ask for something crazy, but almost anything I can do to help you?"

He looked over at me, looking me up and down. His hair was all messy like he had just woken up that way and had left it all crazy. Slight bluish bags were under his eyes like he hadn't sleep well, having tossed and turned all night, which he probably had. Placing his hand over mine, he guided it off of his shoulder, just plain holding my hand instead. He twined our fingers, just finding joy in running his thumb over my skin, "No. There's nothing I really need. But thank you for offer. If something comes to mind, I will be sure to ask you right away."

"Seriously," I said softly, watching him play with my fingers in his own hand. "I'm here for you. You know that. Anything you need, Hikaru. I'm happy to do it for you."

He nodded, looking over at me, and giving one of his dashing smiles, "Right. I know. I appreciate everything you've done for me, and I know that you'll always have my back no matter what. Don't worry, I know that I can count on you for anything. You're my best friend, Haruhi. We can always count on each other."  
"Alright," I smiled, wrapping him in a big hug, wrapping my arms around his neck. His arms easily slid around my waist, burying his face in my shoulder, a position we had grown accustomed to for the past few weeks. I had gotten used to his smell. It was a sweet one, yet fiery, cinnamon with a mixture of lilac, and I don't know why I liked it so much. Almost like we didn't want to, we pulled apart. "On that note, I'm going to go now. We need some groceries, and I'd better go get some." I got up, making my way around the couch, beginning to head out. "Is there anything that you need-"

I paused, being stopped by Hikaru's hand, his clutching onto mine, "I-I just thought of something I needed."

Blinking, I nodded, "Alright. What is it?"

Tugging me towards him suddenly, he wrapped his arms around my waist tightly, face buried in my stomach, "Please… Don't leave me…"

Surprised, it took my a second to adjust to this clinging Hikaru, but then I relaxed, smiling. Running my fingers through his hair, I chuckled, "Of course not. I'm right here. I won't ever leave you, Hikaru."

"Good," he mumbled softly. "Because I don't want you to. You're mine, and I don't like sharing."

o0o

It was late in the night, too late for me by far whenever the knock came at the door. It was a soft rapping at first, just a breezing of knuckles against the wooden door in the late hours of the morning. That sound alone was enough to make me wake, yawning uncertainly. Squinting at my clock, I wondering what on earth I was doing up so early. What was so important to have me up and about at one o'clock in the morning? And why was I still awake? I was seriously considering dozing back off whenever the knock came again, louder this time.

The fist brushed harder on the door now, slightly more commanding. Sitting up, I blinked, not used to this kind of thing so early in the morning. "Um… Come in?"

The door slowly slid open, casting a long bright light across the room, scaring away the pitch black room. Rubbing my eyes at the sudden invasion, I waiting to see who was so in need to speak with me at such an indecent hour. A head poked into the light, then a body appeared in the door frame, looking directly at me. "Haruhi? It's me," said a familiar voice. "… Can I come in?"

"Hikaru?" I whispered, unsure why as to he was in my room and for what reasons. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't answer, nor did he move. Like he was actually waiting on my permission to enter my room.

"Uh, come on in, I guess."

As soon as I said that, he began to come closer, the door closing behind him. I could tell he was coming my way because his feet made a slight noise on the cool tile floor, not being able to see him.

He stopped in front of my bed, "Look, I have something really embarrassing to ask…"

"Couldn't it have waited until the morning? It's really late right now, Hikaru," I yawned, eyes already closed again and ready for sleep. When he didn't respond, I figured it couldn't wait, and nodded, "Alright then. Why are you here so early to ask me this question?"

"Well, it's because it's early that I'm asking… It's extremely embarrassing… But I'm really tired, and it's been weeks since I've gotten any sleep…" He mumbled, acting like I knew where this was going.

I looked to where I thought he was, asking softly, "Then why don't you go to sleep? If you're tired, that's what you should do."

He paused for a long time, and if I hadn't known any better, I would've thought he disappeared. "I… I can't go to sleep… That's why I'm here…"

"I'm sorry," I frowned, not understanding what he was meaning exactly. "I'm afraid I don't understand-"

"I'm asking if I can sleep with you, alright?!" He snapped, instantly calming himself and mumbling, "It's embarrassing, please just say yes. I haven't been able to sleep without him."

I blinked. Well this was new. I didn't know what he was talking about at all. And why was he so embarrassed about that? I actually found it kind of cute. It was like a child asking to sleep with their parents because they had a bad dream or were scared. To know he couldn't sleep without his twin was very sweet. Smiling, I scooted over, making room for him, "Of course. Come on then. Lay down."

Acting like he wasn't relieved, he slowly slid into the bed, and his body released tension automatically. Resting his head against the pillow, I could barely make out the outline of his face and hair, his eyes gazing intently at me.

The strange thing was, I was sure that neither of us were nervous, and we shouldn't be. We were best friends, helping each other out. I was still determined to give him some space, looking at him and smiling softly.

He huffed, "Why are you so far away?"

"Oh," I frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be."

"Don't apologize," He pulled me close against him, arms snaking around my stomach and his bicep making a great pillow. "Just get over here."

I didn't even realize that he was shirtless and just in pajama pants. Not thinking much of it, I didn't question what he chose to sleep in. I was much of one to talk, since all I wore was a frilly night gown.

Slowly, I pressed against him, sliding the palm of my hand across his toned stomach, resting my head against his chest. His skin was so warm, heat practically radiating off him. He was so relaxed right now, fine with just holding me in his arms and he was now ready for sleep.

"Goodnight," I mumbled, looking up at him.

"Sleep tight," he finished.

I closed my eyes, "Don't let the bed bugs bite."

"Don't worry," he smirked. "I don't."

I think that night, I got the best sleep I ever had before.


	17. The Sound Of A Broken Heart

The last few weeks had been unbelievably tough. I was absolutely positive that Kaoru was sick of the sludge they served at this hospital, because I knew I could hardly stomach the browning tripe to save my life. Like come on people. You want these people to get better, correct? Not die from food poisoning because they were forced to choke down that bland sludge. It would waft down the halls and seep into your clothing like a bad disease whether you wanted it to or not. And it would most likely be haunting my dreams for many moons to come.

Not only that, his room was horrible. It stank like medicine and sickness, from years and years of patients laid motionless on pristine beds while antiseptics and machines kept them alive. His tv in the room was tiny and barely buzzed to life when it was turned on. Even after it began to operate, it would half thrum on some Mexican game show or some soap operas that were in some strange Bulgarian language. After I had complained several times to the front desk, they sent someone in and had a new television installed. Still. I wanted my Kaoru at his house so he could watch his favorite tv shows at his own house. And his bed was way too slow when it moved, creaking and groaning in small ways as he moved it, the machine almost growling. Honestly, everything in this room made me angry. The furniture, the tacky wallpaper, the buzzing computers. The fact that Kaoru was in it, mainly. I hated that. I hated it so much that one of my twins was hurting. And because he was hurting, the other was grieving, so they both were hurting. And that was hurting me to watch them hurt for each other.

In all honestly, I was getting sick of everything in this cursed building. The halls which held so much pain as if the walls contained the screams of every patient that had ever graced the hospital. Every doctor that I saw striding up the halls with their white coats flapping in the wind like a cape of sorts, they had to spend their sleepless nights handling with half dead patients, and they looked half dead themselves. They flew around the halls like heroes, saving this addict or curing this sickness. All the patients, who roamed the halls like zombies, shuffling around in their slippers and gowns like a hoard of coordinated death hazards. The constant hum of machines, pumping, whirring, or beeping that creating hundreds of artificial humans a day. The cold and hard antiseptics that sludged and seeped through the tubes of IV's in every room on every floor, in each building. I wanted my Kaoru out of this place.

And as if that was enough, something else unforgiveable had happened to me. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it. Not because of the act itself, but the act that the act is having me commit. I feel horrible just thinking about it. I… I may have fallen in love with Hikaru. I feel horrible about it. First of all, it's only been a short time since the break up between me and Kaoru, and he hasn't even gotten any other women to look at! I've been stuck with his stubborn, hot headed, attractive, usually shirtless, incredibly adorable, great smile, cute laugh, sarcastic twin brother and I've really enjoyed our time together.  _Really_  enjoyed our time. Every time we were accidentally too close, or he'd cook me dinner, or he'd hold me during a storm, or how I held him until he slept for the first time since the incident…  _I'm getting all flustered just thinking about him, stop that already!_  I huffed, trying to shake the thought of that stupid goof ball out of my head. And second of all, he has a girlfriend! One of which he's completely head over heels with.

Unfortunately, I was standing at the bedside of his extremely perceptive younger brother, Kaoru, who immediately grabbed my hand, "What's wrong?"

I jumped, the action surprising me, and his touch burning me with guilt. My poor broken Kaoru. He laid in back, barely reclined, and sipping on this glass straw, head wrapped up in bandages and gauzes, hair pushing back. He looked genuinely concerned, making sure I was alright. We might not still be a couple, but we cared for each other deeply as human beings. And that bond would last forever.

Slowly, I shook my head, "Kaoru. I'm so sorry. For everything. I'm the reason you got hurt. I'm the reason that you're here. It's all my fault. And I have some more bad news to tell you. And all that's going to do is hurt you as well." I took a deep breath, readying myself to tell him the bad news. How do you explain to someone that you were hopelessly in love with their brother? "Look, Kaoru… I'm-"

"Hey guys," Hikaru smiled, walking in. "I have an extra special surprise for you guys. My girlfriend decided to give a stop by. So that means my two best friends in the whole widestest world get to meet my lovely girlfriend." He leaned over the side of the bed, nudging his bedridden twin. "And she's extremely pretty, bro. So I better not see your eyes wandering, sly dog."

Kaoru shoved him away with his good arm, "Oh shut up. I respect women. Unlike some people." He cleared his throat suggestively, staring up at his twin.

"I'm just saying," Hikaru laughed, a bright smile lighting up his face.

I was torn with emotions. I was happy that my twins seemed so at ease with each other, like Hikaru was the best morphine Kaoru could ever find, and the mere presence of his brother made Hikaru relax and smile more often. It was fantastic how they could mend each other.

Yet on the other hand,  _I_ was hurting. Hurting because Hikaru was now bringing this woman of his into this sacred space of Kaoru's room. And he felt very deeply for her, I could just tell, the way his body loosened when he spoke with her on the phone, the way his eyes got lighter when he spoke of her. I wondered if I was the same way about him. But I must do as I have been doing: put on a smile and wait for this girlfriend to arrive.

Hikaru gave that lovely laugh, gushing to Kaoru, "Bro, believe me. She's like the 8th wonder of the world. So amazing-"

"Talking about me again, babe?" A light voice filled the room, slightly arrogant in tone.

Instantly, I froze. I recognized this voice. From where? I racked my brain for the information, turning ever so slowly to greet this familiar person. As soon as I saw her, I remembered.

She stood before me, hands on her hips as I saw her for once out of her formal school wear. She had bright red hair, of which it reminded me of fire, much like her fiery personality. The cockiness she held in her posture and gaze was enough to make me want to back up a few spaces in order to give her room. I wanted nothing more than to get away from this woman. This girl standing before me was Princess Seika Ayanokoji, the one who dumped my bad in the fountain my first day of being a host. Her blue grey glared down at me smugly, grinning like we shared some untold secret.

Hikaru rushed over, scooping her up in his arms and spinning her around, "Of course I was talking about you. You're perfect, Seika." He pressed a kiss against her cheek, smiling.

She giggled, and the sound was so alien to come from her lips. She looked lovingly up at him, cupping his face. "I should be the one bragging about you, love. You're the best boyfriend in the world. I love you so much, Hikaru."

"I love you too," he chuckled, locking their lips in a slow kiss.

And that was the sound of my heart breaking.

I cleared my throat, feeling like I was growing faint, "I need to go get some water. I'll be right back."

Seika pulled away just to speak to me, turning in my direction and leaving Hikaru to place kisses down along her jaw, "Oh Haruhi. Be a doll and fetch me a soda? Thanks."

Nearly stumbling out of the room, I made my way to a less crowded hallway. They admitted…. They said…  _He told her that he loved her._  Each of them, slinging that word around like it's being was weighted with nothing but empty space. Whenever I admitted my love for Hikaru, I meant that I loved him. It had been many weeks of living with the idiot for me to realize that I loved him. I love him. I love him so much . It hurts. Because now I know that he'll never love me.

I lurched forward in front of a vending machine, leaning on his glowing surface to catch myself. Closing my eyes, I shook my head. I thought I could handle seeing him with someone else. I really thought I could. But obviously, I couldn't take the heartache… But I have to. If that she devil makes him happy, I'll put up with her. So help me, I will put up with her. I don't have to like her, just to tolerate.

Tolerating works. Because someone like that sure doesn't deserve someone like Hikaru.

Swallowing my pride, I bought both a water and a soda from the machine, making my way back towards Kaoru's room. Turning the corner, I paused, watching as Seika went out of the room and down a dark and suspicious hall. Puzzled, I decided to follow her, watching as she paused at a bench, dialing a number on her phone and putting it on speaker.

I watched on curiously as it rang, and was a little shocked when the booming voice of a man answered.

"Princess. You have called me back, child. Good. How is your mission going?" The man asked.

Seika looked pleased with herself, flicking her hair behind her shoulder, "Everything is going according to plan, Godfather Akuma. I finally got in close to Haruhi today. Making steady progress, sir."

I blinked.  _What do these people need with_ me? And wait… Akuma? As in, Jaga Akuma?

This man, Godfather Akuma, sounded thoroughly pleased, giving a chilling, grating laugh, "Excellent, my girl. You do so much better than my stubborn son. He still won't do as I ask. Brooding in his room as always. Now, tell me of the boy. Do you think he knows?"

"Oh please," the laugh she gave was a merciless cackle, a laugh meaning she doubted Hikaru's ability to add two and two. "Hikaru is so stupid, I doubt he will ever figure out that I'm only using him to be able to get closer to the girl. So dense, that boy is. And he truly believes I love him. So pathetic."

It took all of my being to not go over that and knock her lights out. Now I was caught up in this. I can't blow my cover.

"You do have a way with men, my dear." Godfather Akuma paused, then started to chuckle, "Imagine if I had gotten you to seduce her father while he was still in the country! Oh well, I like this route much better. It's always fun to see prey squirm like this. I will enjoy this game very much."

Seika tilted her head up smugly, leaning against the wall, "Anything you want me to do with Haruhi in the meantime."

"Nothing. Do nothing to her. Touch not a hair on her head." His voice was filled with such a deadly rasp, growling like a wild animal, a lion boasting over his latest kill. "Haruhi Fujioka is meant for me and my brother only. He is coming over soon to discuss what he wants done with her. Do not harm her at all until ordered to. That pleasure is mine. Can't believe her mother had to go and die before I got my hands on her… Brother is quite displeased as well. But her daughter shall do just fine. Anything else you need, Princess?"

The girl shook her head, all serious now, "No sir. I'm all set, sir."

"Perfect. Now, get back to the good work. And please. Feel free to consider my offer," and with that, he hung up.

Trying to quickly make my way back to Kaoru's room, I got there in record time, not feeling well. Hikaru sat in a chair checking his phone, and with horror, I realized his back screen was of him and Seika. Feeling sick, I turned my head, catching Kaoru's attention.

He smiled up at me so innocently, "Hey, Haruhi. Weren't you trying to tell me something earlier?"

I thought back. Oh, that's right. I was going to tell him about my horrible addiction to his twin. But I couldn't quite do that, what with the center of my universe sitting right there and all that. Stupid Hikaru. I could tell Kaoru about his brother's evil girlfriend who wants to kill me or something and is only using him. But again, Hikaru is sitting right there after all. Stupid Hikaru. Just stupid Hikaru. Why do you have to go and make me fall in love with you? Why can't you see that she is just using you? Why do you have to make things so complicated, you stupid idiot?

So instead of telling Kaoru how I felt, or breaking down in tears like I felt like doing, or exposing Seika as the rat she really is, I just put on that same fake smile, and shook my head to keep quiet.  _Let Hikaru be happy with this girl. Even if she is playing him and lying, he will never forgive me if I tell him. If I love him, that means I must let him be happy, even if I am not._

"No, I'm sorry, Kaoru, I don't remember what I wanted to tell you."

And that was the sound of my heart breaking.


	18. Tyger Tyger Burning Bright

I was sick and tired of this. Hikaru and Seika were hanging all over each other like they were each other's life lines, and it was gross. Day and night, she was attached to his hips, like he was carrying her around with him as a token love if you could call it that. And what was worse was the way she carried him around. Seika would hook her arm around his waist and flaunt him around, not always verbally but also physically as well, thrusting her glory around like Hikaru was some sort of prize instead of a human being. A spoil of war. And it made me sick to think of it.

Everywhere. They were everywhere. The obnoxious couple was like a bad rash that couldn't be cured, or a ravenous infestation that had burrowed its way into my wounded heart. Oh, my heart ached terribly. Like deep inside, I hurt all over. Jealousy consumed me, though I didn't act on it. Every time he would wrap his arms around her, whisper sweet nothings into her ear, or even… say that he loves her, I don't get jealous. I get angry. Angry that this woman has caused my Hikaru to feel all of these false emotions, filling him to the brim with these fake feelings. It was sick that she could do something like this to a person.

Whenever you love someone, and they don't return that emotion, it is really a pain worse than death. The pain is doubled whenever you have to watch as they become tender with another. Seika Ayanokoji doesn't deserve the dirt he walks on. She is horrible for leading him on like that. And… I am horrible for not telling him. I am horrible to keep this from him…  _That's it. I must warn Hikaru about the danger he's in._

I stood tall now, currently in the kitchen of the Hitachiin manor. Bravely, I marched up the staircase, ready to face a grave if I had to. By the end of the day, Hikaru would know of the poison he's been living with. I looked out the window, seeing that the sun was already setting, red leaking through the sky. Guess I better hurry up.

With each step, my limbs started feeling as if they were laced with lead, my stomach being pitted with guilt.  _What if he doesn't believe me? What if he doubts me and gets angry? I can't risk losing him._ I took a deep breath, at his door now. I have to do it. Even if he's angry at me, he must know the truth. Hesitantly, I knocked.

"Seika?" He called out optimistically, rushing towards the door and throwing it open expecting to see his girlfriend. The smile on his face was so excited, like a puppy awaiting the arrival of its master. Whenever he saw me, that smile dimmed down, into his smile close mouthed smile, tilting his head to the side and relaxing. "Oh, hey Haruhi. What's up?"

I winced. Ow. That stung. Not the time to deal with it, though. I pushed my way inside his room, pacing over to his bed, "Hikaru. We really need to talk."

He frowned at my serious tone, a bit puzzled to say the least. Letting the door close, he sat on the edge of his bed, "Alright then. Start talking."

"I… I'm not sure where to start," I looked over at him, that soft expression he wore, the broadness of his shoulder, the way he sat. Everything about him made me love him. And each time I see him, I fall in love with him all over again. I never knew that a love could be so deep and eternal whenever I had only felt this way for a short period of time. It seemed impossible, but this was not some petty crush. I wouldn't feel like this over a petty crush. Maybe… Maybe I should confess my feelings for him too. No. I can't. I must focus on him and only him. "I don't know how to tell you this, but Seika isn't all she seems."

Now he started to look suspicious, eyes narrowing, expression hardening as his lips began to form a line, "What do you mean?"

"This is hard to explain," I admitted, staring down at my hands.

Hikaru stood, fixing me in that stare of his that made me want to squirm under it, "Well. I have time to listen. Start talking, Haruhi."

Sighing, I began to explain everything, "Just, look. Seika doesn't love you. She's merely using you. I don't know what she's using you for, if it's for her own personal gain, or if she is working for someone. But I saw her the other day at the hospital. She made a call to some guy and was saying how she didn't love you and was using you. The only reason I'm telling you this is because I'm your friend and I don't want you to be played, I want you happy."

It took him a minute to respond, as if his body was soaking in this new and foreign information and processing it so that he could have a proper retaliation in our conversation. Slowly, ever so slowly, he blinked, and shook his head, "No. There's no way. Seika loves me. She tells me all the time."

"No, Hikaru," I sighed. "She's lying to you. It's easy to say something and not mean it."

"But, that doesn't add up. Our relationship has to be real. The way we're always together. That shows how much she loves me if she's willing to spend time with me," he nodded, looking to me as if to see if I had any objections.

I shook my head sadly, "Hikaru. The way she goes around with you, it's sick. She carried you around like a possession, not a human being. You're just a status for her. A gain. And I can't stand to see you like that. No one deserves to be like that."

Hikaru just kept shaking his head like he couldn't believe it, and I didn't blame it. It was a lot of information to take in, and a bit of a shock. Angrily, he brushed a hand through his mane of fiery hair, "What's wrong with you? Are you trying to break us up or something? Are you jealous of Seika, Haruhi?"

I don't know what came over me, but I just couldn't answer his question with words. Words wouldn't describe my pain. So I drew my hand back, and slapped him hard across the face, leaving a stinging red mark on his cheek. His head snapped to the side, and he was wide eyed, shocked. I was steaming mad, glaring up at him, "Don't act like you know what I'm going through. Don't pretend that you how this feels."

Finally regaining his senses, Hikaru set his jaw, staring down at my tiny little form, "I'm sorry, Haruhi, but I choose to believe my girlfriend over what you have to say. I trust her."

I brushed past him, heading straight out of his room, "Then you're more hopeless than I thought."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

After my fight with Hikaru, I just needed out. I needed to get away. I don't know how I made it all the way out to the car without falling. My legs felt wobbly and weak, and my palms were all sweaty, stomach in knots. I saw that the family driver was in the drive way, and with horror, I realized that Seika's car was there too and that she was now spending her time with that idiot. Stumbling over to the driver, I asked him to take me to Ouran Academy. I knew it was late, but I also knew that nobody would bother me there. Plus, if I went to the roof, I could be alone under the stars and cry and no one would see me there.

As I sat in the car, I was shaking. So tense as we drove along, to the extent that my wrists shook and my teeth rattled. I was extremely in shock at what had just happened now that I had lost every once of bravery and adrenaline and I was thinking it over. Hikaru wouldn't believe me. And I could do nothing about it. That's the cold hard truth of it. In the end, Hikaru chose to believe Seika more. I leaned my head against the cushion, closing my eyes. Honestly, I just wanted to sleep. My body felt numb with pain, and a dull throb echoed through my body. Only later did I realize that was my heartbeat.

We soon arrived at the school, and I thanked the driver, making my way into the building. It was all dark and depressing looking, kind of matching my mood. No lights were on, so I shuffled through shadows, sometimes briefly illuminated in the silver wane moonlight. Shuffling into this secret stairwell, I made my way onto the roof, climbing step after step before swinging the heavy metal door open at the top.

I breathed in the fresh night air, a light breeze blowing faintly now that I was so high up. Walking out further, I saw all the plants that the agriculture class prided in being so beautiful. In the sheen of the moonlight though, they only looked ephemeral and melancholy.

The stars twinkled brightly, all caught in the black net of the sky, and they all looked so lonely with each other like they had given up. It was incredibly serene. I hugged myself closer to assure that I didn't fall apart.

I was startled by a voice speaking out, "'And when the stars threw down their spears,

And water'd Heaven with their tears:

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?' The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?"

I looked out at the person who just decided to recite poetry out of nowhere. Shocked, I asked, "Kyoya senpai? What are you doing here?"

The vice president of the club was sitting about ten feet away, and I'm not sure how I missed him though in my defense the night was dark and he did blend with the shadows. He sat on the ground, one leg tucked under his other leg which was bent in order to hold his elbow up. Resting back on his other arm, he looked very relaxed and nonchalant, glancing up at me. Surprisingly, he didn't wear his glasses as they were folded up on the ground beside him, so his beautiful slate eyes stared unadulterated into mine. Kyoya wore a simple white button up shirt that he obviously hadn't bothered to button up all the way (or roll down his sleeves) and some regular blue jeans. His hair was very unruly, but it kind of fit him. I always liked it whenever he looked messy and rugged because it fit him more than being uptight and proper all of the time. Only now did I see all the alcohol bottles that surrounded the man and the bottle of whiskey in his hand. All those empty bottles of Crown, Jager, and even a few bottles of vodka and bourbon. I would be surprised if he  _wasn't_ drunk. What actually surprised me above all else was that he was getting drunk off of hard liquor and not fine wine.

"Why are you out here so late, senpai?" I asked, forgetting why I was even here momentarily.

Shaking his head, Kyoya simply patted the ground beside him, meaning for me to sit there, "That was Jaga's favorite poem growing up, you know?" He completely ignored my question, continuing on. "The Tyger. By William Blake. I personally think he only truly liked it was because the name had a big cat in it. But maybe I'm wrong. It's a very deep poem."

I sighed, "Even when you're drunk, you are the smartest person I have ever met." Putting a hand on his shoulder, I decided I should take care of him before myself, "I think you've had enough to drink, Kyoya. How about we go inside now-"

Before I could even react, Kyoya grabbed my wrist, moving so that he leaned more over me as he held my wrist between us. His face was very close to mine, those eyes burning like fire into mine, ripping apart my stubborn resolve, and he was close enough that I could smell the rank alcohol wafting off of him. The way he stared down at me, and his proximity reminded me of that night by the ocean when he pinned me to the bed… Except this time, I felt like he was strangely more acute, moving with a more solid motion, holding my arm tight in his grasp. Slowly, he spoke, "'In what distant deeps or skies.

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare seize the fire?' I heard your question perfectly. I didn't feel the need to answer it because it would gain me nothing. I know why I'm here, but I need to know why you're here. So." He paused, releasing his hold on me, and slumping back down into his relaxed previous position, offering me his whiskey. "Why are you here late at night breaking school rules, Haruhi?"

Feeling a bit brave, I grabbed the whiskey bottle, taking a large swig. This one was different than the others. I was instantly hit, like with a brick wall. The substance lit up my insides, the heat sliding down into my stomach and warming my entire body. It was so warm and fuzzy, like a good feeling and it made me relax, which just happened to make me feel terribly sad, bringing tears to my eyes. I shook my head, setting the whiskey back beside Kyoya, tears leaking out of my eyes and spilling down my cheeks, "I came here to be alone, Kyoya. I just want to cry. I never thought I could be in this much pain…"

He glanced over at me, stoic as he watched me cry. I was a mess, sobbing, all these pent up tears finally cascading down in big droplets, my eyes now red and puffy. I sniveled, looking over at him, the tears mercilessly flowing now. He sighed, "Oh Haruhi." Kyoya placed his hand on my cheek, gently brushing water away with his thumb. "Such an ugly crier. Guess we have that in common."

"Kyoya," I sniffled. "Have you ever just loved someone so much… So much. And then you watch them with everyone else, how they can throw around their emotions to another person who doesn't feel the same. And they will never return your love? So you are forced to live with this gut wrenching unrequited love, that you just can't tell anybody."

Kyoya suddenly dropped his hand to the cold ground, tilting his head up to stare into the dark and lonely stars. It was only when I looked into his face that I saw he was crying too, silently, tears slowly flowing down his face, illuminated as rivers of silver under the glowing moon, "You have no idea." Despite the crying, he had no hitch in his voice, no lump in his throat, and he spoke with that same cool and smooth voice. Slowly, he raked a pale hand through his dark mess of hair, clutching onto a few strands as he watched the sky. "I have loved more deeply than you could ever imagine."

I blinked, thoroughly, surprised. He then looked over to me, and gave me the saddest of smiles, one that held a lifetime of grief and sorrow inhabited by a body of just a few years. "Kyoya senpai," I whispered, feeling like if I spoke any louder I would break this bond that was forming between us. "You love someone?"

Instead of answering, he began to wipe all of the tears from my face, "I was always jealous of you, Haruhi. You always have his attention. It tore me apart."

Frowning, I tried to make sense of it all. Jealous? Attention?  _Him?_ "I don't understand-" Then it hit me. I knew all along and I just never guessed it. "You're in love with Tamaki."

Releasing a sigh, he nodded, returning my gaze and not bothering at all to clean his face off, "That's right. I assume you're talking about Hikaru. That makes us both in love with idiots, huh?"

I gave a little chuckle, and then nodded, "Yeah. Does that make us idiots for being in love with them?"

Giving that same sad smile that he had adorned a while ago, he nodded, "Oh absolutely. We are idiots. Ones of the highest degree." Turning towards me, he took my hand in his and just held it like that, "Listen. You should tell Hikaru your feelings. He deserves to know, and you deserve to tell him. Please, just do that. You don't have to say anything else, just let him know where you stand. Now Hikaru is a stubborn one, which is why I like Kaoru much better, but I believe you can break him. You're you. You can do anything, Haruhi. I believe in you." He offered another smile, slate eyes flashing. "Tell him. If it ends up good, great. That means you two can be together. If it ends up bad, oh well. At least he knows now. At least it's acceptable for you two to love each other…"

I knew exactly what he meant. He would never be accepted if he came out as gay, and that was horrible. He should be able to love who he loves without being hated for it. If I thought I had it rough, Kyoya has it a hundred times worse. His father would disown him, his school would frown upon him, and his associates would fear him. And just because he was in love. That's horrible that he has to live with that in a world like this. I nodded, wrapped my arms around him so that I could hug him, nuzzling in close. He was so warm, and I couldn't tell if it was him or the alcohol. Slowly, I felt his hands slid against my back, hugging me tight. He stunk of alcohol, the smell lingering on his body and clothes like a perfume, and the fragrance kind of fit our mood. I pressed a kiss to both of his cheek, right over the spots he had shed tears. "Thank you, Kyoya senpai," I whispered.

He nodded, dipping his head, and placed a chaste kiss against my forehead, mumbling against my skin, "Thank you Haruhi."

With that I stood and left a drunk Kyoya on the roof of Ouran Academy, alone and talking to the moon; reciting poetry to the stars.

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The car drive home seemed like the longest thing in my life. Ever. Funny how time seems to stretch out at some moments and seem way too fast in others. I closed my eyes, leaning on the window as I tried to sort out exactly what I was going to say to Hikaru. The cool glass really helped me to think up some ideas. It had to be short and sweet. My emotional state was much too frayed at the moment to have a long winded speech about my love to the boy. But it couldn't be too short either. Like, it had to have meaning. Ugh. I'm too tired for all of this.

We pulled up in the long driveway, and to my relief I saw Seika's car parked on none of it. When we rolled to a stop, I thanked the driver and got out, going up the front steps. I was beginning to dread the sight of the Hitachiin manor. All that I could say was that I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the door.

Kaoru was home, a little bruised and bandaged, but home nonetheless. A smile crept up on my face despite what had happened; the sight of my boy coming home was overwhelming me with happiness. Then I saw Hikaru standing beside him and my high hopes plummeted once more.

Kaoru spotted me, and gave that adorable little smile, chuckling, "Hey Haruhi. Welcome back."

"I should be saying the same to you. Why didn't you tell me you were coming home today?" I went over, sure to gently wrap my arms around him and hug him (didn't want to break him again) and hoped that he couldn't smell the alcohol on me.

"I didn't really plan it," He said, scratching the back of his head.

Releasing him, I notice that Hikaru was glaring at me from the corner of my eyes, setting his lips in a tight line.

I decided that I didn't care, returning the hateful gaze, staring up at him.

Kaoru blinked, looking between us. I guess he sensed that he didn't want to get into it, because he gave a nervous laugh, "Wow. Look at the time! It's pretty late. I think I'm just going to shower, and then head on to bed. Night, guys. Hope you sleep well."

We both waited, watching as Kaoru limped down the hall on crutches, clumsily making it into his room, then I decided it was appropriate to talk. Apparently, so did Hikaru.

"So are you done with your little jealousy spat?" He asked, looking away.

Taking a deep breath, I became very interested in my shoes, "Hikaru. I need to tell you something. And it's kind of hard for me to say it."

He scoffed, folding his arms across his chest, "If it's not important, don't waste my time with it."

"But it is important!" I snapped, succeeding in shutting him up. "What I have to confess are my idiotic feelings for you. That's important right? The fact that I am hopelessly and shamelessly in love with you is important, right? There I said it. I'm in love with you, Hikaru. I've been in love with you for a while now; I just doubt either of us have known it. There. Now you know my feelings. Take them or leave them."

The look upon Hikaru's was a bit priceless. He was obviously shocked, eyes wide and mouth agape like a child's, and he looked as if words had fled him as well. Slowly, I noticed he was regaining himself, mainly because he cleared his throat and got that tough expression on his face once more. "So that's how you feel? I'm with Seika, Haruhi. And I knew you were jealous. I knew it."

That hurt. I confess to him, and he still blames me of jealousy. I shook my head, starting past him, "Whatever. If that's what you want to believe. I'm going to bed.

He caught my arm as I walked past, gripping tight onto my forearm as he stared ahead. "You stink," He said, clearly pretty observant. "Like alcohol. Where were you?"

"Why do you care? You've already made it clear how you feel about me, and it's obvious you don't feel the same way, so anything I do means nothing to you. I am nothing to you," I shrugged out of his grip, huffing as I glared up at him.

He hit his chest once, growling in slight anger, staring angrily at me full force. "You could've dated me. But you got with my brother instead. So the ship has sailed. You missed your chance. You know what," He paused, digging under his shirt and pulled out the glimmering Gemini necklace that I had given him. I was honestly unaware that he even still wore the useless trinket. Even though the necklace was cheap and tacky, it still hurt whenever he ripped it off his neck, handing it out to me. "Take this back. I don't want it anymore. It was a symbol of our friendship. I guess it's not, anymore." His voice was a dead serious one, not angry, not tired, but serious. And it affected me more than any number of hours spent shouting.

I think I was the one taking this horribly. I mean, when he shattered the chain, and each piece tinkled to the floor like dust, I choked back a sob, reminded of what he was doing to my heart. This was terrible. How could he do something like this? I knew I must have looked horrified at the action because Hikaru actually winced, then looked away like he wouldn't look at me. With trembling fingers, I grasped the necklace, clutching it close to my chest. "Okay," I whispered, feeling weak and vulnerable like someone had just removed my shell. "If that's how you feel."

I turned, ready to shuffle away into my room and cry myself to sleep. Suddenly, the front door was thrown open, Ranka running in all giddy and dressed fully as a woman. My father laughed, giggling almost, and I don't know which flabbergasted me more: the fact that he giggled or that he was back in Japan. "Hello my darling daughter!"

"Dad," I frowned. "What are you doing here?"

He looked so proud of himself, laughing and applauding himself. Twirling to make his skirt spin, he flicked his red locks behind his shoulder, "I came here to tell you the good news, dear. My job interview is going so well in the states! The bosses are all so impressed up there! So guess what? Pack your bags, my dear! WE'RE MOVING TO AMERICA! Get some rest, daughter! Our flight leaves tomorrow! Haha!"

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The morning was awkward. Ranka had explained to the twin's parents as I said my goodbyes to Kaoru, hugging him. Hikaru hadn't bothered to show. Though Kaoru had reassured me that his twin had spent all night up and about, tossing and turning. Only I knew what had actually happened.

Early in the morning, Hikaru came back to my room, busting in without even considering. He looked so much softer than last night, like he was actually caring for once. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a habit that the twins both did when they were nervous. "So Haruhi," He cleared his throat. "I just came back to say that I'm sorry about yesterday. I'm so so so sorry for it. I was stupid, and I shouldn't have done that."

I looked him over. He looked gaunt, like he really had slept very fitfully. And I almost felt bad for him. Almost. "Is that all?" I was preoccupied with packing, and really needed to get that done, shutting my suitcase.

"Well, yeah." He looked like he was waiting on my response, like I was just going to completely melt back into his arms and become his little play thing just because he apologized.

I shrugged, "Okay. That's great. Anything else?"

The fierce twin frowned, looking like he was trying to get all these words out at once, but had no idea of how to do it. "Haruhi… Listen."

"No Hikaru," turning my back on him, I started away. "I don't think I will."

Suddenly, I was grabbed, pinned against the wall by Hikaru, him staring down at me, "Please… Hear me out." Our bodies were close together, and the look in his eyes was so pleading, the feeling of his hands on my arms sending shocks through my body. The way he gazed at me was the equivalent a dog would look fighting for its owner's attention.

Releasing a faint gasp, I stood there shocked, staring up at Hikaru. We hadn't been this close in a while, and you could almost see the tension between us. He looked like he really had something on his mind, though I doubt it was about the issue at hand. I started to notice everything about him: the bit of collarbone peeking out of his shirt, the way his neck just  _fit_ him, the angle and curve of his jawline, how soft his lips looked…

I think he was observing the same thing. Hikaru's eyes stared into mine, then he looked down at my lips, biting his own, and then looking back into my eyes. Ever so slowly, he closed the space between us, trying to kiss me.

With all of my might and willpower, I shoved the man off of me, shaking my head angrily, "No, Hikaru. I will not allow this. You are either with her, or you're with me. I'm not that kind of girl."

And with that, I left to meet with all the people in the other room.

But now I was at the airport with my father, waiting for our flight departure to America and sitting in one of the waiting sections. I was actually ready to move out of the country. Sure, I would miss the Host Club. But at least I would be rid of Seika and my stupid feelings. Maybe distance would help me get over him…  _Yeah, even_ I  _didn't believe that statement._

Releasing a sigh, I stared outside the window, watching as the plane started up. My dad sat beside me, gushing over some America fashion magazine something or another, but I wasn't really in the mood for paying attention. I was paying attention to a certain red haired twin. I even thought I could hear Hikaru's voice, calling out to me, "Haruhi! Haruhi!"

As I sat forward, I realized that I was hearing his voice. The idiot was running through the hall, shouting my name frantically and searching each gate. I frowned, running out to meet him, thoroughly confused as to why he was here, "Hikaru? What… What is this, exactly?"

Panting, the twin had a slight sheen of sweat on him like he had been running, which he obviously had been. Shaking his head, took a few moments to just breathe, catching his breath, "You… Idiot…" He panted.

I blinked. Those weren't exactly the first words I was expecting.

"How dare you… Making me fall in love with you… Then running off to America… Stupid… Girl…" He put his hands on his knees, doubling over as he inhaled deeply.

Now this was truly a shock. Had I heard him correctly?  _Love?_  "Hikaru, if this is a joke, this is cruel."

Hikaru stood now, tall and proud, and he laughed, "No. Certainly not a joke. That was an important reason to come running after you, right? Because I've loved the girl ever since I first laid eyes on her, right? I think I might consider that a pretty big reason to act like a fool and run after you like I did. Now that I'm here, will you let me speak? I… I have something important to tell you."

Still processing everything, I slowly nodded, allowing him to speak.

Stepping forward, his large hands took mine into their custody, holding each of them as he spoke to me, his golden eyes shining fiercely in the fluorescent lighting of the airport. Even after all that had happened, he smiled at me. "Haruhi Fujioka. For as long as I can remember, I have loved you, alright? And what I did the other night was totally unacceptable. You're my best friend, Haruhi. You've always been there for me, in my time of need, in my times of want. I can always count on you, and I should've trusted your judgment. I'm sorry that I didn't. Because it was true. And then… Well, I was an idiot. I broke my favorite necklace, the one that you gave to me, and I just don't think that I can express how sorry I am about that with words alone. So let me do this." He paused, one arm looping around my waist and pulling me closer against him. My hands instantly went to his chest, bracing myself for anything that he may be doing, staring up at him with large bambi eyes. Hikaru smiled down at me, and chuckled a little, placing his other large hand on the back of my head, holding me there as he gently rested his forehead against mine. He closed his eyes, just resting like that. I couldn't help but stare at him, unsure how to feel.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, the warmth of his breath hitting my face as he spoke. Slowly, he pulled away, and I was certain I was blushing insanely. He continued, "And I want to start a relationship with you. If you're okay with that. I mean, we both just admitted we loved each other so it's kinda pointless if we don't get together, right?"

"B-But, what about Seika?" I stammered.

Hikaru grinned again, as if he had planned for that this time, "Dumped her. I got a friendly tip about what she was doing, and decided I was spending my time on the wrong girl. So what do you say, Haruhi? Will you be my girlfriend?"

I stood dumbfounded, probably looking stupid to this crowd of people who had gathered around us, interested for a show. Shaking my head, I blinked again, "I-I don't really know what to say, Hikaru, I-"

Again, I was silenced by Hikaru's warm palm sliding against my other hip so both of his hands were holding me close to him. He sighed, "Come on, Haruhi. Do not turn me down in front of all of these after I said all of that embarrassing stuff. I ran a long way to get here, bribed a security guard with my body, had to ask light a gazillion assistants to assist me in finding you-"

I found myself laughing, a light chuckle that was one I often had with Hikaru. Smiling up at him, I shook my head, "Shut up and kiss me already."

That was all the reassurance he needed. Hikaru grinned, "With pleasure." He lifted me up, spinning me around, then dipped me like in the movies, giving me an Oscar worthy kiss.

Behind us somewhere, Ranka was tearing up our plane tickets, smiling as he watched his daughter be happy with the person that she loved. He understood. He would find another job.

As for right now, I was officially in a hopefully long and happy relationship with the boy of my dreams, Hikaru Hitachiin. My troubles were over.

Or, so I thought.


	19. Oblivion

It had been a few weeks of our relationship, and I had realized a few things. Being with Hikaru was like breathing air. It came to me simply now, like an everyday task, and I didn't even have to think about loving him. And it was also a necessity, like if I didn't get to see him, or speak with him, to feel his presence beside me, then I would ache until I could see him again, like a bad craving.

The next thing that I learned was that he was addictive. Hikaru Hitachiin was my drug. His body was like alcohol, his touch like cocaine, and his lips were like nicotine… Each day, I craved more, like a junkie who can't be satisfied without their fix, and I needed Hikaru in my life. It was that simple.

Another thing I realized was that now that my father was back in town, it meant that Hikaru and I wouldn't be living under separate roofs, and that is really depressing. It means we won't be able to see each other all the time, or just visit each other down the hall. My father being back also meant that he was supervising at all times, making sure that Hikaru and I weren't too close, or that we didn't kiss too much, or that no funny business was happening.

Even right now, as Hikaru and I were resting against each other on the couch, just watching a movie, my father just busted out into the room overflowing with popcorn and had forced his way between us. I knew he was just being protective, but it was extremely difficult to not be at Hikaru's side during the alone time that we were allotted. Yuzuha and Mr. Hitachiin were delighted at our relationship (even if they didn't have much of one themselves) and they would always find ways to hide us from "Raving Ranka" so that we could have some time together. I always felt bad about leaning too close to Hikaru when his parents were around. To touch his hand softly or to press a tender kiss to his cheek. When they thought no one was looking, they would drift apart, eyes distant from each like they wished to be apart, their hands would be rigid against each other, and their bodies would have an insurmountable gap between them. It was almost heartbreaking. Heartbreaking to know that they were splitting up. That their marriage was crumbling. So out of respect, I always tried to wait until we weren't in their sight for me to kiss Hikaru or to burrow into his warmth.

As we watched the movie now, with my chittering red haired father between us, Hikaru stretched his arm out across the back of the couch slyly so that we could intertwine our fingers. I felt myself smile at his touch, automatically at ease with his thumb stroking over mine. This right here felt like home. His touch, his sneaky wink, his impish grin. All it was so comforting and familiar to me. So much so that I just wanted to revel in it.

I closed my eyes, just focusing on everything Hikaru. His touch, his fragrance, and the way his presence soothed me. And before I even knew it, the movie was over and the ending credits were rolling down the screen. My eyes snapped open and looked at the two men beside me.

Ranka stood, laughing as he brushed off his shirt and jeans, "Wow, was that a great movie or what? I give it ten out of ten. Though I still am a little confused about the plot… Oh well! It was a fantastic movie nonetheless. Ready to go, Haruhi?"

Reluctantly, I left the comfy couch where I had been sitting with Hikaru, and I stretched quietly, nodding, "Yeah, I'm ready to go, dad."

"Great. I'll be waiting in the car," he picked up his purse and left the building, humming out to the vehicle. Say what you want about my father, but he knew when to give me at least a little breathing room with my boyfriend.

Hikaru stared up at me from the couch, all slumped down comfortably. "Come down hereeeee," he whined, holding his hands out for me.

Taking his hands, I tried to pull him up on to his feet and chuckled faintly, "Nooo. Come up hereeeee."

Surprising me, he tugged me down on top of him so that I was straddling him, a giggling mess we became then. He twined our fingers, smirking devilishly as he leaned his forehead against mine.

I whispered, "Babe. I gotta go. I don't have time for this."

"I'm going to kiss you goodnight. It takes time and precision to make you want me," He whispered back sarcastically.

Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but give a small laugh, "Alright, but hurry up before my dad walks in again."

That was all the motivation he needed. Hikaru kissed me sweetly, in one of the most tender ways that I've ever experienced, his lips sliding against mine so smoothly. Just when I was about to leave, he made me want to stay like this for an eternity. His hands slid around my waist, barely gliding under my shirt just enough to feel up the skin there, his warm fingers making that spot on my body hot. My hands slid up his forearms and slowly over his shoulders, taking their time to snake into his wild ginger hair and tug at it playfully. I could feel a purr deep in his chest like he was an actual tomcat who reacted when I played with his hair.

This was unfair. This was supposed to be a sweet little kiss, and yet here I was, still kissing the idiot for what seemed like forever. His tongue brushed the bottom side of my lip and I gasped slightly, not expecting that. Hikaru leaned more into the kiss, letting his tongue explore my mouth, and feeling smug that he had the upper hand. His warm palms slid up the skin of my back, pushing my shirt up higher and allowing some cool air to chill my spin. My hands itched to unbutton his shirt, to run their fingers all down his torso and to feel his muscled arms and shoulders. Cupping his face instead, I returned the same amount of heated passion he was now giving me, not going to let him get away so easily. My fumbling fingers had just reached the top button on his shirt when a car horn was vigorously from outside.

We separated our lips quickly, almost guilty with our chests heaving from lack of air, and I gave a sigh, "Sorry, that's my dad. I have to leave now."

I stood and adjusted my shirt, trying to fix my hair a little before I walked out. Just as I was about to leave, Hikaru stood and grabbed my hand, pulling me back against him. He tilted my head up to meet his lips in a slow yet passionate kiss. This one was truly tender. So slow and smooth and full of emotion. Our lips were soft on each others, and he surprised me with this newfound level of delicateness as he held me close to his body, kissing me dearly.

Leisurely did he pull away from me, almost hesitant to break our lips bond. He then pressed soft kisses over my forehead and fingers as he held them up to his lips.

"Sweet dreams tonight, Haruhi. Sleep well, my love," He whispered softly into my ear, his warm breath tickling my neck. So gently did he send me off. And for some reason, that kiss messed me up more than the heated one.

So I stumbled outside, in a complete daze, leaving Hikaru behind with messy hair, crinkled up clothing, and a small happy smile on his face.

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The car ride home was quiet. Not awkward, but quiet. Well, on my side it was. Dad talked endlessly about the movie, making wild gesticulations with his hands and laughing at each corny joke he made. I shook my head, quietly chuckling at him. Ranka was something else, and I loved each of his quirks, and if I'd watched the whole movie, I probably would've answered him back. But I was more focused on something else at the moment. Well, distracted. Yes, distracted is a much better word. I kept reliving that lingering kiss with Hikaru in my head over and over as if my brain was on repeat, and I never wanted it to stop. Closing my eyes, I bit my lip, trembling as I remembered that his voices sent chills all the way down my spine and back up again. 'Sweet dreams,' he had said. I definitely knew  _who_ I was going to dreaming of tonight, that's for sure.

My dad dropped me off at the house, waving and watching to make sure that I made it safely in the house. Apparently he had to work some late shift at the tranny joint he liked, and that was fine by me. Being alone at the house gave me time to myself.

Our little space was quaint, not too big, but not too small. To a rich person, it seemed like poverty. But this was middle class, at least. I cooked a small dinner consisting of some ramen and sat at the table, watching the TV in the far corner.

Hours. Hours were spent watching the mindless television. Too many. It was now late and the sky was dark outside. Sighing a little to myself at the fact that I wouldn't be able to be next to Hikaru tonight, I shuffled towards the sink to put my dirty dishes away.

Suddenly, a loud BANG! Rang through the skies and I cried out, dropping the bowl and shattering it into pieces. That sound could only be one thing. Thunder! I flung myself into my room, slithering into my bed and pulling the blanket over myself, a pillow over my ears to block out the sounds.

Another horrible crack sounded through the sky and I squeaked, tears forming in my eyes and rolling down my cheeks with no control or hope of making them stop. I shook my head. Trying to clear it of the horrible sounds, of the wretched light that triggered it, of the thought of lightning as it thundered through the sky- Another crack. I screamed.

On the inside, I was chastising myself for acting like such a baby. I understood that it wasn't going to hurt me, I knew that everything was going to be alright, I got that storms happened all the time. But that didn't stop me from fearing each strike as if it were Death tolling my bell. That's the scary thing about a phobia. It controls you. Not the other way around. No matter how much you understand your fear and think you can handle it, once you're faced with it, you don't stand a chance. So I laid there, shivering under the covers, crying in tune with the strikes of lightning and the downbeats of thunder. I lied, alright? I hated being alone. Mainly because I knew storms happened… Why did I have to be alone?

Just as I thought the words, I could hear beyond the thunder to the front door of our apartment opening, and I blinked, wondering who could invade my space during my weakest moment. My father? No, he was working late shift and wouldn't be able to hear the storm from his workspace. So who?

I looked up just as my rescuer came around the corner. It was Hikaru, doused and soaking in water, his hair matted down to his forehead and his shirt clinging to his torso. He was breathing rather heavily, panting as he threw his jacket on the ground, shedding his soaking shirt as well and adding that to the pile on the floor. Kicking off his shoes hurriedly, he slid in next to me on my bed and wrapping us each tighter in the blanket.

He grabbed me, pulling me close against him so that I could calm down a little. His body was damp, skin moist just from wearing that soaking shirt, and his hair was a dripping mess all over my pillow, but right now I didn't care. All that mattered was that he was here now, and I wouldn't have to suffer this cursed storm alone.

Arms forming a cage around me, his breath began to level out. "I started running here as soon as I heard the first crack of thunder. Ran… Ran as fast as I could. Had to make sure that you were safe," He explained. After he was done hugging me tightly, he got out his headphones and placed them over my ears, playing a song loudly to block out the sounds of the storm.

I blinked up at him, tears dripping down my face when I did, and I shakily whispered, "Thank you."

He shook his head, and kissed my forehead, wiping away all my shed tears with his thumbs like they were nothing. Bringing me closer against him, he made sure the blankets were around us like a cocoon, no flashes able to be seen this way. Releasing a sigh, Hikaru just held me, and I closed my eyes as I rested against his chest, tugging him closer by his belt loops as I tried to warm him up. He was still frozen almost even though the blankets and I were extremely warm.

I ran a hand down his arm, rubbing over his shoulder and bicep to try and warm him even a little. "Thank you." He whispered suddenly, and I was shocked when I heard it. We were pressed so close that I felt the vibrations of the words through his body and that was how I had heard the words. I closed my eyes, waiting for him to explain. He continued, "Thank you for being safe, Haruhi. If something had happened to you, I would've never forgiven myself. So thank you. For being strong until I got here. I promise, promise, that one day I'll be there for you always. So you don't have to be strong all the time. You can take a break. I'll take care of you, Haruhi. I promise you that."

He rested his chin on my forehead, starting to warm up as he held me. So I did let him take care of me. I laid my head down on his chest and snuggled in closer to him. I whispered sleepily, "I love you Hikaru."

And my body didn't let me wait on his response, as I slowly drifted off into sleep.

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"I hope Haruhi is alright," Tamaki raved, staring outside of his bedroom window, pacing back and forth worriedly. The man was dressed in his blue sleep wear, running his long pianist fingers through his messy locks of blonde hair, violet eyes full of worry for his friend.

"If you don't stop pacing like that, you'll walk a hole into the floor, you know?" Kyoya was lying back on Tamaki's bed, hands behind his head like a pillow, staring up at the canopy above as he listened to the Golden Prince fret. He had perfectly combed black hair as usual, glasses polished neatly, and he wore a white sweater with black pants. He wasn't too formal, and he only let Tamaki and Haruhi witness him in this state.

"Oh shut up!" Tamaki snapped. "My little girl is out there! Probably all alone…. Trembling in the darkness… Oh Haruhi! Don't you worry! Daddy's coming for you!" The blonde suddenly started across the room as if he were about to sprint out into the rain wearing only night clothes and slippers.

Kyoya the back of the hyperactive boy's collar, throwing him back across the room and sent him sprawling onto the large bed. He shook his head and pulled out his phone. He then began to read a text, "'Just got to Haruhi's house, she fell asleep, everything's good.' Hikaru sent that text about three minutes ago. Now will you calm down and stop worrying about Haruhi?"

"But," Tamaki started. "What if-"

Kyoya walked over to the bed where Tamaki sat like an anxious toddler staring up at the other man, and he patted his blonde friend on the shoulder, "I understand that you're worried. I was too. But calm down and get some rest. Spending all night worrying about her will probably make her worry about you more. So shut up, you brat or I'll drug you with sleep medication."

Tamaki blinked at Kyoya's bluntness, (though he was more surprised by Kyoya's brief display of kindness) and he shimmied under the covers, staring up at the youngest Ootori like he was waiting for approval and didn't wish to be scolded again.

Straightening his glasses on the bridge of his nose, Kyoya nodded in agreement, "Good. Now if that's all, I'll show myself out. Goodnight." He started out, stuffing his hands in his pockets and striding out slowly, dimming the lights all the way down so that only the silver of moonlight illuminated the room's inhabitants. Plus the occasional flash of lightning. Just as he opened the door to leave, a particularly loud crack of thunder sounded, booming across the sky as if a heaven god were shaking the house in anger.

"Wait!" Tamaki cried, jumping up in the bed and reaching after Kyoya like he could just pull him back.

Kyoya paused at the door, raising an eyebrow and waiting for Tamaki to speak.

Tamaki looked down at his blanket as he fiddled with it, "Um… Would you mind staying? It… It would be like a sleepover. Remember when we used to have those?" He laughed nervously.

The Dark Prince looked amused, smirking a little as he leaned against the door frame, looking Tamaki over. "Is Haruhi's fear of stupid things contagious?"

"Shut up!" He growled, looking away with a furious blush on his face. So Tamaki was terrified of storms too now. "It's a perfectly fine fear to have, thank you very much!"

Rolling his eyes, he walked back over, taking his shoes off and climbing into bed on the side opposite the blonde, "Fine. I'll stay here with you tonight. But you're not allowed to talk to me. I'm going to sleep." He rolled over, placing his glasses on the nightstand and then closed his eyes, ready to let sleep take him.

Or he was whenever he felt the bed shift as Tamaki snuggled into his back, thinking he was being sneaky about it. Kyoya released a sigh, not opening his eyes, "What are you doing, exactly?"

"Nothing. Just ignore me. Pretend I'm not even here," Tamaki mumbled, clutching onto the back of Kyoya's shirt.

He sighed, rolling over onto his back and looking over at the president of the host club, "Well, that's kind of hard to do, seeing as you're practically on top of me."

"I'm sorry," Tamaki murmured, looking wounded, like a puppy dog that had been kicked. Thunder cracked again, and Tamaki squeaked, clutching onto Kyoya's hand hard. The dark haired boy looked down at their joined hands, not stopping it, just looking at the way Tamaki was gripping onto his closed fingers.

Kyoya shook his head now, voice a lot softer as he stared up at the canopy once more, "No, don't be sorry. It's alright."

Tamaki only nodded, looking like a five year old who got scared and asked to sleep with his older brother. He pulled Kyoya's hand up to his face, tracing all the lines etched over the palm like he was studying the hand and keeping it for future reference. "Kyoya… What's your biggest fear?"

' _Losing you.'_ He wanted to say instantly. But he didn't. He had trained his mind and body to not show his feelings for his love. And he was now a master at it. Kyoya closed his eyes and thought hard. What was he afraid of? Finally, he opened his eyes and answered, "I'm afraid of not being good enough. The fear that someone better will always come along and take what I've worked towards instantly. The fear that I'll become obsolete. Useless. Nothing. The fear of being forsaken. To lorn. I fear my impending and inevitable oblivion." He shook his head, knowing that he should've lied and said something stupid like 'spiders' but instead he choose to say what he was honestly afraid of. And he was okay that he had just told his best friend what terrified him the most. He closed his eyes, waiting for the Frenchman to snort with laugh and tell him he was stupid.

But he didn't. Instead, Tamaki wrapped his arms around Kyoya's and hugged it tight to his body, closing his eyes, "Well don't you worry, Kyoya. You're number one to me. You're the only who I can annoy. And I'll never forget you. Plus, I'll be around to bug you in the afterlife."

Kyoya was shocked. He never expected that. He never calculated a possibility where his friend would be understanding. Gulping, he nodded, "Y-Yeah. I guess that you're right."

"Man," Tamaki muttered. "I wish I was as complex as you. I'm just scared of storms and losing the ones I love." He then stretched his back out like a cat and yawned, resting his blonde head against Kyoya's shoulder. "Anyways. Let's go to sleep. I'm tired."

"Right. Sleep well, Tamaki," Kyoya whispered.

And the dark haired man stayed wide awake for hours, just to be sure that the other boy was asleep before he faintly whispered, "Sweet dreams, my love."

All he got in response was a light snore from the blonde. Kyoya chuckled, brushing Tamaki's hair to the side. "Better than nothing, I suppose."


	20. The Akuma Syndicate

Everything about the family was dark. From their clothing to their vehicles. Everything about the family was dark. Their houses. Their history. Their senses of humor. It was all black, filled with more than a few missing points, nothing that couldn't be changed with a bribe, and absolutely, positively no loose ends.

This family had a name, infamously known by everyone who had watched the news or even walked the streets anytime during the last 50 years especially. This family carried the cursed name of Akuma, to hold the insignia of the dead on their backs, and to wave bones across their flags. A name which promised Death. The Akuma family had some of the dirtiest hands in history, their past littered with blood and soiled with dirty business. They had been this way dating back centuries back into the youth of Japanese history, one of the first families, and therefore, syndicate.

The Akumas have now just become more popular in the recent fifty years because of the recent amount of social media and press coverage. People now were capable of being aware of their acts, and they were aware with a passion. Aware of the throngs of gang members out on the streets wearing black and red clothing, sterling necklaces, covered in skulls, and littered with the Mark of the Dead. Everyone in Japan knew them. They were the people that you didn't stray too close to late at night. The notorious gang prowled the concrete jungles of the city, silver teeth bared, and crystal skulls ready for the kill.

The only thing scarier than the dark history of the clan were the members themselves. Each of them were built for murder, specialized for the kill, and prepared for the thrill of the hunt. Even scarier than them still were the ones who rallied the gang. The syndicate leaders, the members of the family with that wretched dark blood in their veins. We are only aware of three leaders thus far, as the previous ones before that are a treasured secret of the group. The eldest leader known, Taigā Akuma, now deceased, was a simplistic and fair master, and some would even jump so far as to call him nice. When he ruled, the city was at a time of peace, and the crime rate was down considerably. The police could talk to the gang members freely and without fear of conflict of law breaking. Taigā Akuma taught his men that they didn't need to act like criminals to be in a gang, leading them as if he were leading an ancient clan of honorable samurai. But that has all changed now.

As the seasons have to change, so did the cycle of powers. The sun fell on Taigā's last whispered breath, and rose on the proud gleam of Raion Akuma. The power had shifted at last. (Some have rumored with such audacity to not hold their tongues that Raion himself was the one to kill his father, just so he would become head of the yakuza.) Between you and me, I wouldn't put it past him.

Raion Akuma had nothing to do with his father's teachings. This new Akuma was nothing like Taigā, and it was this man that would make the Akuma syndicate infamous for years. Raion rules his men with an iron fist and a bloodlust for being bad. He is a merciless leader with no compassion, and the only human emotion he's capable of feeling are anger, pride, and insanity. Raion is a mad fool, so drunk off his stolen power that he defies the police whenever he can, and breaks the law religiously. He decorates his men with black and red, dusting them with silver, and bestowing them with skulls.

Maybe it's a family trait, but each Akuma leader has had an attraction towards the exotic cats and an attachment to them. It is rumored that the first Akuma, Sāberu had a rare beast with lineage to the prehistoric saber toothed tigers. Taigā found that he quite like majestic big cats and so he adopted the nickname "The Tiger." In the spirit of his new title, he had two ornaments crafted to show case it. The first was a slender black walking cane with a silver leaping tiger at the head, fitted perfectly to the palm of his hand. The second was an argentite colored tiger medallion that he bore with pride on his chest as if it were his collar. Not only that, but Taigā took in a rare white tiger as his pet. Quite a pair they made, pacing the halls as predators, as peaceful as leaders with the same icy blue eyes. He quite liked his nickname, and was called this by his men for his wisdom, his bravery, and his reflection. Taigā "the Tiger" Akuma was a tall and sleek man with silver hair and smiled wrinkled skin. He aged well with thin shoulders and a proud chest, wielding his roaring tiger cane like a knight would a sword. When he was serious with his eyes narrowed and his jaw held tight and chin high, he looked like a star dusted tiger on the prowl in the weeds, stalking enemies that dared to endanger his family.

Raion, on the other hand, was completely different. When Taigā named his son, he waned him to love big cats as much as himself, and so he named him Raion, the Japanese word for lion. And did Raion take that title to a whole new meaning. He was so fierce in his dealings, his mean willingly gave him the name "The Lion." Raion roamed around with his silver, striking eyes and he would instantly inspire others to fear him. He wore metal teeth over his own, the metal tempered into the shape of fangs, and in a bloodlust, he would tear out his enemies throat with them. And then he would drop their trembling bodies to the ground, blood trickling down his chin, and it was terrifyingly reminiscent of a lion striking down a gazelle. Even in his appearance was lion like. A mane of slicked back black hair with greying streaks through it, a wispy goatee on his chin of the same nature, statue-esque features, and intense silver eyes. He was called "the Lion" not only for his looks but also for his brutality, his strength, and for his tenacity. Stalking the compound with his black lion, the two staring down prey with those silver eyes.

As Taigā handed his passion onto his son, Raion passed it on to his. Jaga Akuma was born with the name Jaguar Death, as his father before him was Lion Death. Jaga "The Jaguar", as he's taken on, is a force to be reckoned with. He is an already intimidating man, even in youth, and he has a good way of getting what he wants. His title didn't come from his lineage. No. He fought to the top of the ranks brutally and relentlessly. Widely respected by his men, he prowls at night with a black jaguar, dealing with traitors and hunting for victims like a ravaging debt collector. Jaga is known for breaking a person's legs and hanging them, or pinning them, by their ankles. Then, with some wickedly silver claws that he wears, he guts them and let's their entrails spill and feeds it to his jaguar, Hakai. Jaga is a tall man, sleek and calculative in his movements, suave in his appearance. He has a mess of black hair and vibrant green eyes, physically fit from years of fighting and training and littered with tattoos and a piercing. With his brutality at such a young age, Jaga is likely to follow in his father's footsteps. Let's just hope that his dark heart can be swayed.

Something was stirring now in the compound, a tense and uncertain feeling choking the air. Everyone confined in the hideout could feel it, pacing around impatiently liked caged animals, anxiously awaiting something to happen. The tension snaked through the oil colored halls, winding down into the rooms, and infecting everyone in its reach. Now the halls were silent, each member carefully trying not to get entangled in the lion's web. They knew Godfather Akuma was angry. And they also knew that he was holding a meeting in the main room.

Godfather Akuma sat upon his ornate throne in the dark main room, drumming his fingers slowly along the arm. Above his head was a silver carving of a lion looking so strong and fierce like a blazing opium colored sun. He ran a scarred hand through his grey streaked hair, and then he stroked his short goatee in thought. His silver eyes were narrowed angrily in slits, posture perfectly rigid as always as he sneered upon the two people before him. "So… You've both failed me once again?"

Seika, the person to his left, stood with annoyance in her grey gaze, red hair tumbling down her shoulders like a blood river. She looked impatient, tapping her foot against the floor in an off beat. Huffing, she tossed her hair over her shoulder, "I held up on my end, sir. I separated them and dated Hikaru. In my opinion, I-"

Godfather Akuma slammed his fist down on the arm, practically steaming in his seat, "And in my opinion, you should learn to hold your tongue before I cut it out and feed it to my lion!" He sank back into comfort. "You obviously didn't do a good job because he ran right back to Haruhi, now didn't he?" So don't go patting yourself on the back. You screwed up. So shut it, you incompetent idiot."

Jaga, who stood at Seika's shoulder, chuckled as she was put in her place. She sunk down in stand again, and turned to Jaga, hissing, "Shut up!"

The Jaguar King raised an eyebrow at her, flashing a lopsided grin. The two seldom got along, and if they did, it was for a common goal. "My apologies, princess."

"Now don't you think that you're getting off clean either, Jaga," Godfather Akuma growled dangerously low. "You mutt, having the audacity to laugh at your leisure in  _my_ presence. How dare you think… You fail a mission and come in here laughing? Hmmm… Perhaps I should up your punishments… You can't do a mission right, beating up the puny Hitachiin and leaving the potential one unscathed." He released a sigh, stroking his goatee thoughtfully. "Why'd I get cursed with you, Jaga? Why couldn't that woman have birthed me that brilliant Kyoya instead. Now  _there's_ a son. He would- Wait! That's it!" He laughed loudly.

Jaga stepped forward, shouldering off his father's tone, "What is it, father?"

Raion sat up so quickly, the lion at his feet raised its great head and growled at Jaga as well, and the two looked like two lions putting a jaguar in its place, "Don't call me that! I told you to never call me that in front of people!" He then began laughing again, "My genius has struck again! Ha ha! I have the perfect plan to break them up! Seika, you'll especially excel in this."

Seika flipped her hair over her shower arrogantly, smirking, "I excel in most things anyway. I'm sure I will."

"Perfect… Flawless…" He muttered to himself, twirling his finger loosely in his small beard, "Oh. And I have yet another subject to bring up with you two. There will be… a special guest arriving soon. You're to treat her with respect and dignity. I want nothing stirred up with her, or I'll have both of you punished severely. I personally believe that her arrival shall be…  _entertaining."_ His voice lowered at the last word, as did his eyes, and he cackled menacingly, staring straight down at Jaga. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair in a drawn out manner. "You, illegitimate mutt, will perhaps benefit from this business affair as well… That is, if you can  _tame_  her." He gave a slow and deep laugh.

Jaga gulped. He couldn't help but not too. The way his father was describing this girl was making him shifty. He didn't like it. Not one bit.

"'Special Visitor'," Seika scoffed, slanted looking as she smirked at Jaga, seeming to speak out of the corner of her mouth. "What's that supposed to mean, some type of ritzy hooker?"

Narrowing his eyes, Jaga looked back over at her, sticking his tongue out, "He said special guest, not your mom."

Just as Seika was about to go off on him, the dark lion at Raion's feet roared, stopping the bickering.

"Silence!" Godfather Akuma growled. "Children… Stop your bickering. Now. About your mission. How do you separate a couple?" He looked over at the chess board that stood next to his throne, examining all the shining pieces. Humming, he took the dark king and queen, placing them outside of the white king and queen, grinning viciously. He moved the two dark pieces in between the two light ones, and chuckled, knocking the light ones over on their sides, the pieces rolling as if not ready to lose.

"A house divided cannot stand."


	21. Halloween Special

It was now that time of year at Ouran Academy where leaves turned dead and their bodies decorated the lawn. Jack-o-lanterns guarded the halls at intervals, each wearing a different, flickering expression. This was Halloween, All Hallows' Eve, the day when spirits roam the Earth to wreak havoc among the living. The day when witches brew their potions, when werewolves prowl the forests, and the undead feast on the blood of life. It's also the day when kids dress up as all these creatures and they patrol neighbourhoods for outstretched candy. The night was where teens dressed in compromising costumes and go to parties and usually wake up with no memory of the night after. This night Adults scramble to gather enough candy in time, and seniors grumble with noise complaints.

The night was cool, with a brisk fall air stirring the fallen orange leaves, and a full harvest moon illuminating the scene in a faint yellow glow. Bare trees stuck out of the ground, twisted and gnarled like snarling beasts, they were witches' hands casting vexes. The mood was eerie, the perfect night for the creatures of Hell to raze the Earth…

But that night, past the legends and trick-or-treaters, inside the luxurious academy, the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. In the main hall, a party was being thrown, a Halloween bash in fact, on that was hosted by none other than the members of the elite Ouran High School Host Club. The scene was lit dimly, candles and chandeliers low to match the feeling, a snack table across the side, holding tasty dishes to serve to the students who came. Each person was in costume, bodies swaying to rhythmic music pulsating under the flashing strobe lights. Every student was enjoying themselves, which in turn made the hosts happy, just watching the partygoers from their ledge.

"This was such a great idea!" Tamaki proclaimed, grinning as a cluster of women walked by them. "To throw a costume party for the school. It gives us a reason to dress up _and_  throw a party!" Tamaki himself was dressed as a king (of course) a red glimmering crown atop his head illuminating his violet eyes. A red cape fluttered down his back, and in all the poofy clothing and such. He took the opportunity for the night to wear all kinds of rings and jewelry, each piece as golden as his locks of hair.

"Don't forget about the money. We are also gaining a magnificent profit from this event," Kyoya piped in, his little black book tucked under his arm. He was dressed up just as much as the others, clothes silver and violet, golden threads webbing through the fabric. He was a ringleader, all done up in his little French suit. Golden epaulettes adorned his shoulders, silver buttons lining his vest and waist coat, silver pants and shoes sparking his feet with a golden whip at his side. His costume was not only accurate, it also was incredibly punny. Kyoya Ootori was  _the_  ring leader. "Great job in coming up with all the scheduling, themes, and costumes, Renge."

Renge grinned up at Kyoya, stars practically swimming in her eyes after being doted on by him. She basically swooned, and almost did but the sight of Kyoya in semi-tight clothing brought her back instantly. She was dressed up in cosplay as some sort of angel that lived on the beach, so of course her clothing included a bikini, a tiny set of white feathery wings, and nothing else. The bikini barely covered, scandalous against her pale skin and leaving little to imagination. She giggled and twirled around, her thick braided hair slinging over her shoulder as she blinked innocently up at Kyoya, "So, what do you think of my Halloween costume, Kyoya?"

She was disappointed to find that Kyoya was in fact paying her no attention in the slightest, and was instead picking fuzz off of Tamaki's shoulder, straightening his cape with long delicate fingers, "How on Earth did you manage to get dirt on your shoulder and lipstick on your cheek already anyway?"

Tamaki chuckled like the matter was a petty one, waving his hand as if drawing attention to the pink lips adorning his cheek bones, "Well, the ladies just couldn't wait to congratulate me on my coronation."

"That has to be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard," Kyoya scoffed, brushing the dirt off gently. He grabbed Tamaki's chin, tilting it to get a better angle as he protruded a handkerchief from his pocket, beginning to bluntly wipe away the lip stick as if it were a foul creature.

Tamaki sighed, blinking his big bright violet up at Kyoya and pouting like a child. He looked impatient, squirming a little, and huffing whenever Kyoya wouldn't let him go, "Kyoyaaaaaaaa…"

"Don't blame me," Kyoya chided. "You're the one who's going around kissing women with the stickiest lipstick known to man. Stay still, I'll have to press harder."

"Owww! Ow ow ow… OW! That hurts, Kyoya!" Tamaki nearly yowled, stamping his feet like a little anklebiter.

Kyoya showed a slight amusement behind his rimmed glasses, lips ghosted with a smile, "Good. That means it's working."

I, as a matter of fact, was in costume. After many hours of negotiating and looking over the fine print of my contract, they slapped me into a pirate outfit. I had it all, the puffy shirt, the tight leather pants, the knee high boots, and even some makeup to make my face look dirty. I wore a little captain's hat with beads in my hair and an eye patch over one of my eyes. Fake plastic earrings hung out of one earlobe, and I even had a fake little parrot on my shoulder. Decked out with swords and blunderbusses and even some knifes tucked away in nocks and crannies. All fake of course, but I literally looked straight out of a movie. The guys all thought I looked great, though I did have my doubts. What I usually wore for Halloween was nothing. I'd never done anything like this in my life.

But Kyoya mothering 'daddy' was quite amusing, and it distracted the others just enough for me to begin trying to escape the puffy prison that was my pirate costume.

"Not so fast, Haru-chan!" Honey latched onto my leg, tugging at my pants. "You have to keep your costume on all the way throughout the party!"

Honey wore what he usually wore on Halloween nights, his regular school uniform with a large pumpkin mask. Claiming he was the mummy, he went around roaring at people and giggling. He was the perfect container of weaponized cuteness.

Mori fell in line behind Honey, "Yeah." Takashi was done up as Frankenstein's Monster, and with his already massive appearance, he wasn't far off. His dark hair was matted down to his head, all of his stoic face and hands panted green with black stitches strategically placed around his body. He had two latex bots that stuck out of his neck, and with his ripped black clothing and big boots, he really did look like the monster.

Honey grabbed Mori's hand, tugging him out to the dance floor, "Let's go, Takashi! I want to dance with all the ladies!"

Mori grunted, "Slow down, Mitsukuni." Yet he still lumbered down towards the dance floor.

I had half of a mind to join them before I felt a weight balance itself along my shoulders, and I looked behind me to see what it was. Of course, it was just as I guessed.

Hikaru hung on my left side, Kaoru on my right, with both of their arms laced over my shoulders. Each of them smirked down at me, and they were Cheshire's cats, I their Alice.

"Mom was right, the pirate outfit really does suit you, Haruhi," Kaoru smiled, looking me over.

I smiled, "Thanks Kaoru."

Hikaru chuckled, patting my butt lightly. "Of course it does. You work that costume, honey."

"I plan to," Leaning back against Hikaru, I leaned up and kissed the bottom of his chin, fitting against his body.

Kaoru cringed, shuttering, "Ew. Get a room, you two." He meant it playfully, winking at us as he went down the stairs. I knew that he promised that he was okay with us dating, but every time we were together in front of him, he always got a far away look in his eyes, and it makes me hurt for him. But enough of that. I'm enjoying a party.

I watched Kaoru's back as he walked down to the dance floor, admiring the twin's costumes: vampires. They were each dressed as counts, with ruffles on their chests and shirts, tight pants and boots, with large swooping capes and obviously rich jewelry. Each of them wore a little makeup to give them that gaunt effect on their features, a little black under their eyes to make them aged, and over course two pearly ivory canines that were vampire fangs. Their nails were also painted black for effect, and their hair slicked back, giving them the most old school vampire look ever. Still effective.

"You two look great," I commented, holding Hikaru's hand as I watched the partygoers underneath us.

Hikaru put his arms around me, still holding my hands, chin atop my hand, "Thanks. Our mom chipped in with the designs. You should've seen her and Renge brainstorming in the kitchen. It was utterly terrifying."

I couldn't help but laugh, thinking of those two crazy characters flying around the room and sparking each other's creativity.

Among the partygoers I spotted a dancing Kasanoda, getting his groove on from behind a werewolf mask and wolf claws. He was so into it, howling along with the music, and even shaking his tail at some of the ladies that were gathered around him. All in all, he looked like he was having a great time.

Hikaru rocked us back and forth to the music, humming lightly, and just the safety of his arms, I closed my eyes, feeling as if I was about to doze off. Until I was tapped on the shoulder by a rather sharp thing, it hurting just from the small contact it made with my skin. And then an even sharper thing sliced through the air, "May I have this dance?"

My eyes shot open, and I turned around, seeing before me a wild Jaga in costume. His dark hair was swept back, his green eyes electrifying like the jaguar he was. As for his costume, it couldn't have been simpler. It was black pants with black shoes, white cuffs on his hands and he was shirtless with a little collar around his neck and cat ear on his head. He'd taken his piercings out but his tattoos were a little difficult to hide due to the fact his shirt was missing. He swung the leash of his collar around, chuckling darkly at me. "Mewow."

"You'll dance with her right after you kill me," Hikaru nearly hissed, putting himself in front of me, trying to protect me.

Jaga shook his head, tsking, "No, no, no. Don't make threats like that, boy, remember who you're talking to and that I can make it happen. Besides," his eyes flickered with amusement as he walked past us and Hikaru followed his gaze the entire way, "I didn't come here to cause trouble. I came here to party. Something neither of you are doing. So farewell." He stopped at the top stair, blew me a venomous kiss, and then slid down the banister, hopping off at the bottom step.

I sighed, shaking my head as if I could wipe Jaga's essence off of me, "God, that guy's such a creep."

Hikaru nodded, taking my hand, "Come on, I know someplace that we could go that is 100% creep free." He led me away from it all, away from the people and the music and the party, and just took me away.

We wound up in the third music room, where all the lights were off and the tables and couches were pushed back, leaving us with our own personal dance floor. Hikaru stopped in the middle of the floor, throwing his cape back and bowing to me. "Milady. May I have this dance?"

He held out one pale hand, palm facing the sky. I nodded, sliding my fingers into his, "You may, my good vampire."

And so we stood, ours hands join, one of his arms around my waist, one of my hands on his shoulder, and our bodies pressed together. There was no music, and no people, yet we still waltzed in the same rhythm, over and over.

"How on earth did you get so good at dancing?" I asked. I still stumbled and tripped over my shoes every now and then, a little shaky in my movements.

Hikaru raised his eyebrows playfully, "Oh, you didn't know? If your parent's net worth is over $50,000 then you automatically know how to dance."

I couldn't help but laugh, setting my head down on his chest, using his heartbeat as my down beat, "You know, we haven't had time alone like this in an awfully long time. It's dangerous."

My eyes were closed and I felt something graze over my neck ever so slightly, realizing that my vampire was tasting out my skin. Hikaru drew me up closer against him, my hands braced squarely against his chest as he scraped his teeth over me, gazing down at me with those piercing golden eyes, "It is very dangerous. May I take a nibble?"

Gasping lightly at his sudden change of attitude, I closed my eyes, finding myself growing closer to him unconsciously, "Only if you promise to be good, my little vampire."

He pinned me against a column, began to attack my neck with kisses, his teeth adding to the harsh effect. I tilted my head back, drawing him closer, my fingers curling in his cape. "I'm never good. I'm bad for you."

His tongue brushed over my skin teasingly, and he was just as surprised as I whenever my hands pulled him closer to me, as if trusting him to bite my neck, "Shut up, you're the best thing for me."

Hikaru put one of my legs around his waist, closing the space in between us, undoing the top buttons of my shirt, beginning to take the shirt off. My bra was showing, along with my compression wrap(not that there was a lot to compress). His lips went over my collarbone, down to my heart, and he kissed so sensitively there, holding onto me as if I could float away if he didn't. He was my anchor, my attachment to this. He was my home.

We were just about to get somewhere completely indecent. We were on the couch, me sprawled out under him, him over me like a predator, kissing me with his fang. He had slid his finger along my hair, moving my eyepatch out of my face. His cape was on the floor, his ruffly shirt almost all the way off. I pulled him closer to me, kissing along his neck, nibbling on his collarbone. My hands were all over his body, his venturing to map mine, and we were melded against one another, all hot breath and wandering hands, lusting eyes and aching body.

"My, my," a voice said. "What do we have here?" Jaga walked into the room, leaning on the back of the couch, staring down at both of us, smirking. "A couple of kittens in heat. Little frisky, aren't we?"

Hikaru took off his shirt, covering me with it. "Shouldn't you be somewhere that someone wants you?" He stood up as if wanting to protect me.

I sat up, sliding on Hikaru's shirt and looking over at Jaga, curling my lip in disgust, "Why'd you'd have to come butting in here? Just leave."

"I would, but it seems the boy here has some score that he wants to settle," Jaga smirked.

Hikaru stepped forward, a growl on his face, his makeup smeared a little around his lips and his neck. His fake elongated fangs protruded from his lips as he nearly hissed at Jaga, "I don't have a problem with you, but I don't like you being around Haruhi, creep."  
Jaga looked so hurt, face twisted up in a grieving expression, his hands cupping his chest over his heart as he fell back onto a couch, acting like he fainted, "Oh, how you wound me so! 'Prophet! Thing of evil! Prophet still a bird or devil!' He called me a creep!" He straightened after that little act, legs hanging off the side of the couch, his leash teasingly on the floor, him propping his face up by his hand. Jaga grinned at me, his green eyes shimmering, "Is it too late to say 'thank you'?"  
Looking utterly disgusted by the very existence of the third Akuma, Hikaru curled his lip into a sneer, shaking his head, "Seriously, what is your problem?"  
"Well," Jaga laid square on his back, lacing his hands over his chest placing his head on the arm of the couch. He looked like a patient at a shrink. "Daddy never loved me, mommy locked me in the cupboard, I never fit in, bullied at age nine, a tattoo and piercing by age twelve, and what do you know, smoking and drinking with half my head shaved and died as I ride on the back of my abusive boyfriend Snake's bike." He casted a wicked grin over in our general direction, and I couldn't help but feel like a cornered gazelle by the way he was looking at us. "Insert sad backstory here. You name it, it's happened, babe." He tilted his head back, laughing lightly, and then he drew a tear down his cheek with his finger, "Not to mention all those Little Miss Pretty child pageants Mommy would put me in. They never thought I was pretty enough."  
Even though it was obvious he was using ridiculous stereotypical backstories, it was strange to see him acting in such a way, to be kidding and so overpoweringly arrogant, "What is it that you want, Jaga?" I asked, not sure if I actually wanted to know the answer.  
Jaga stood then, almost like he morphed into a standing form, and he breezed over to me, shouldering past Hikaru. His long fingers cupped my chin, and his green eyes stared back into mine. Dragging one long finger across the bottom of my jaw, he smirked at the face I was making, "Why, I came for you, Annabel Lee."  
Taken aback, I asked, "Annabel Lee? What? Oh whatever, why won't you just stay away from me?"  
That was when he came close, his cold skeleton lips brushing against the shell of my ear, and his voice was but a whisper, a deadly howl of dying wind, "'And neither the angels above, nor the demons down under the sea, can ever dissever my soul from the soul of the beautiful Annabel Lee.'" That was all he said, and he was so close that I barely felt his hand slip around my waist and into my back pocket. Or should I say, that was all he had time to say before Hikaru slammed him against the wall, growling at him.  
"Shut up. And stay away from her," He grumbled, teeth clenched so tight that it quieted his threat. He had a hold of Jaga's collar, keeping him pressed against the wall, the other raised in a fist and ready to punch the Jaguar's lights out.  
Jaga just chuckled, his eyes challenging, daring Hikaru to test him, "Didn't you hear what I just said? Get back under the sea, demon."  
Hikaru brought his face closer to Jaga, whispering lowly, and the makeup on his face made him look even deadly than he was already supplying. His fangs were fully out from his mouth, growling,"I want nothing more than to pound your face into this wall. I've done it once, I'll do it again."  
"Oh really?" Jaga whispered back in the same time, the most arrogant smirk on his face, "Then do it, big boy." He moved his face up, teasingly biting Hikaru's nose lightly, smirking.  
Hikaru just about lost it, about to just let loose a volley of punches on the Akuma, if we hadn't heard the notebook close, "Now now, children. Enough. Playtime's over."  
Kyoya stood at the door, leaned against the doorframe and legs crossed where he stood. He had obviously watched the entire scene, and had been writing in his little black book but now it was tucked away under his arm as his hands were in his pockets. He then straightened up, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose further, staring straight at Jaga. He walked over to us, his shoes clicking on the waxed floors of the music room, and he stood in front of us, eyes on fire.  
"Something you wanna say?" Jaga asked. He now seemed tense, very much so, at the sight of his half brother.  
"We can't have any record of any of the host club members engaging in violence," Kyoya stated, grey eyes challenging Jaga's electric ones. "So I must ask you to leave, mousier."  
The laugh that left his lips was grating and harsh, yet oddly unsettling, "I don't think that I will."  
No words were said, just actions taken. In what seemed like seconds, Kyoya lifted his little black book and slapped his brother across the face, his expression changing none. The slap reverberated around the room, and with the sound we all seemed to be held frozen in place. "Out. Now."  
A now sizeable red mark on his cheek, and his dark hair covering his eyes, Jaga prowled out. He had did it. The ringleader had tamed the jaguar.  
Kyoya watched him leave, and nodded as that was one piece of business done. Then he himself walked to the door, standing by it. Pausing, Kyoya looked back over at us, the subtliest of smirks ghosting across his lips, a slight knowing gleam in his eyes, "Happy Halloween, you two."  
And then the door clicked shut and sound of heels clicked on the floor, Hikaru and I couldn't help but turn to look at each other. We both had the goofiest grins on our faces, and we just burst out in uncontrollable laughter. Nothing about what had happened was funny, nor would it be a funny situation later. We weren't even sure that we were laughing because of humor. Or terror. Or shock. But we were together. And we were smiling. And soon, we were back in our previous positions on the couch, and boy did we know that it was an actually perfect Halloween.


	22. Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Off Her Clothes

At Ouran Academy, everything was great. The air outside was chilly, yet the sun still warmed the Earth's occupants. The trees were bare, yet instead of scary silhouettes they were art, frozen in place by winter's halted breath. The yards were often covered in frost every morning, and stayed that way until the sun hit high noon. Everyone was fine though, bundling up under bulky clothing, just awaiting the day that it became extremely cold. The girls were happy, chatting casually about how they were going to get their family pictures done in all of the snowy bliss, excited for it. All the young men gathered and bragged about who's ski resort was bigger than the others. Typical Ouran Academy students.

And in the Host Club, everything was great. Sales and visits were through the roof, which Kyoya later revealed to me that fact was because it was growing into the colder months and the ladies liked to be accompanied with a man they could snuggle up to. Which, to me, sounds really lame and stupid that that was the reason the girls had been pouring in, then I thought about how I really couldn't blame them. Being snuggled up with someone you like on the couch, all cuddled up together when it's cold outside, under a blanket and watching a good movie with a cup of hot cocoa. It is very nice, I must admit. Because of Tamaki's antics, all of the regular tables and couches had been replaced with kotatsus, all of the hosts pouring the ladies tea and commoner's coffee. Everyone was laughing and smiling, having a good time. Everything was great.

And that's usually when you know things are about to go wrong.

I guess that I still had a goofy look on my face from when I was thinking about snuggling up with someone I loved on the couch with hot cocoa, because right at that moment, that's when I felt arms come around my waist, and a face snuggle into my neck. My goofy smile spread. His breath was warm against my skin, and I could feel his smile, "Looks like you've been thinking about me again, eh?"

"Maybe," I smiled, closing my eyes and leaning over to our heads were pressed together. We were in the back, so most customers didn't bother watching us, too busy with their hosts, and tea, and commoner's coffee. "What have you been up to, Hikaru?"

Humming lightly, he squeezed my waist, drawing me back closer against him, "I was just thinking about you. Thinking about us."

"I think there's a love song in there somewhere," I pointed out, poking his nose as I chuckled.

He shook his head, "Dangit," he laughed, his shoulders shaking slightly. "You weren't supposed to know where that was from. Did it work, at least?"

"Oh yeah," I nodded, humming the song lightly under my breath. "Totally romantic. Even better when Nelly sings it though."  
"Why you sly little girl!" He tickled at my side, lifting me up and taking me to the back room. I squealed at his moves, laughing as I was lifted and taken back into the back space. Hikaru made us both fall back onto a couch, me landing on sprawled on top of him, hands on his chest, our legs a tangled mess. We both went into loud laughter, and when he did, I got to feel every lift and fall in his chest. I closed my eyes, trying to still my chuckling, my face plastered with a silly grin.

Cool fingertips brushed on my chin, slowly going over my cheek, grazing over my temple and they came to a stop embedded in my hair. I don't know what it was, the fact that I was pressed so close to Hikaru, or the chills that his fingers sent through my spine, but it got me to stop laughing immediately.

I opened my eyes to find an adoring Hikaru reflecting me, his face all angular and edges. Beams of morning light caught at his hair, softening his demeanor in stature and color, casting a faint glow around him. His eyes looked as if they were consuming me, catching me in their crosshairs and not letting go until their mission was fulfilled. He was painting a picture of me, not on something as materialistic as a canvas, or as flimsy as the pixels of a phone. He was painting my portrait in his brain, the part of it that was categorized for tenderness and love, the wild part of him that was a romantic maniac. This part was contained past the nonimportant parts labeled for living and moving. This was in the part built for being, and I was lucky enough to see myself residing in there. When he broke the silence, it was a serene loudness, a single sentence that made the air pregnant with a new stillness, "You are so beautiful, Haruhi."

No response was needed. The moment wouldn't allow any room for error, and if I spoke now it would demolish the silence for good. All that was needed was for me to lean forward and connect our bodies at the lips. So that's exactly what I did.

This kiss of ours was not one of lust, no erotic 'hot and heavy' building up tension was shown. It was not one of want, at least not of any sexually. We were just kissing. We were just two people, close to together, who became one with sparking lips. This kiss of ours was one of loving. Of being together.

And nothing can ruin the silence of together better than an annoying ringtone. We separated and sat up, just enough so that Hikaru could check his buzzing phone. He furrowed his brow, seemingly confused at the text. I leaned over, trying to read the screen, "What's wrong?"

Hikaru shook his head, still looking confused. "It's Seika... She just asked if I wanted to join her tonight for champagne at a hotel mixer. Just as friends." He looked at me, as if judging how I would react to this.

I nodded, thinking things over in my head, "You should go. I mean, you're over her, and you've moved on, and you should show her that. It would be great to rub that in her face, yeah?" Slyly, I kissed his cheek, smiling.

"You're really okay with this?" He asked disbelievingly.

Nodding, I answered, "Whole-heartedly. Plus it'll be good if you rubbed in how happy you were with me. Feel free to brag to her."

Hikaru pulled me closer, chuckling at my words. He kissed me on the forehead, "Okay, Haruhi, you are seriously awesome. Girlfriend of the year."

I scrunched up my nose when he kissed there, grinning, "I've been trying to tell you."

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So it was around ten o'clock, and Hikaru had been sitting on the stool by the bar for about fifteen minutes, waiting for Seika to show. He examined the hotel. It was a nice one, more for upperclass and business associates. Hikaru huffed faintly, knowing Seika would chose a place that only the rich could go. The bar was classy. All crystal glasses and refined gentleman drinking and laughing over their golf scores from earlier that morning. Hikaru rested his chin in the palm of his hand. He knew he didn't want to be that kind of rich guy when he was older. He was obviously going to be the cool one, who ran a fashion industry with his brother. He smiled faintly at the idea too. Perhaps Haruhi would be there too...

"Sorry I'm late," a sultry voice said, and Hikaru instantly knew this was none other than his ex. He sat up quickly, swiveling around to face her. Indeed it was Seika Ayanikoji in all of her sickening glory. She wore and very revealing dress with a slit up the side to show off her ivory leg, and a slit in the front to show just how much cleavage was packed in. Her red hair was done up in a loose bun, her makeup smoky around the face, yet not unattractive. She was wearing dangerously red lipstick, and something of a red flag was waving in the back of Hikaru's mind, though he ignored it. "Is this seat taken?"

He shook his head, motioning for her to sit, "Saved it just for you. Sit down." It was easy to be friendly for Hikaru. The hard part was actually meaning it.

Seika didn't ask twice, sitting herself down and sighing in content, "Boy, traffic out there was absolutely insane! My driver almost couldn't make the turn because the family limo was so long. Ah, limo problems, am I right?" She smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He nodded and smiled, not reacting to her hand. He wasn't going to let her play him again, "Yes. Limos can be pesky." Hikaru answered, sipping his champagne.

"That's all that you're going to have?" Seika asked, motioning towards the champagne. "Don't you want something a little stronger?"

After a minute of considering, Hikaru nodded, "It is a little weak. I guess I can have something a little stronger."

Seika's grin almost turned wolfish, "Perfect. Bartender, we'll have two burbons."

The bartender, an odd looking fellow, obviously American, with his greasy black slicked back hair and wispy goatee. He was a medium sized man, not standing out particularly, but an obvious character. Hikaru squinted, seeing the way the bartender's lip curled as if accustomed to a cigarette. The young Hitachiin was trying to figure out where he'd seen this man before. The bartender paused as he looked over Seika, "You sure miss? You two barely look out of the crib."

The bartender had a thick New Jersey accent, an oddity in Japan. Hikaru pondered, eyes narrowed as he thought. Such a unique voice... Seika wasn't hesitant, "I am a princess. I suggest you get me those drinks pronto."

"Yes ma'am," the man chuckled, mixing up their drinks in a timely manner, nodding to them as he stood an appropriate distance away.

Seika smirked, stirring her burbon a little before pressing the glass to her lips. She let the half empty glass clink back down against the countertop. She licked her lips, careful not to mess up her make up. She smiled lowly over at Hikaru, "I do love my liquor, as anyone does."

Hikaru chuckled, knocking back some of his drink, swallowing it harshly. He shook his head to knock out the dizziness, "Whoo! That was something. Never burned like that before."

For some reason, this alcohol was twice as effective, and it left Hikaru's head spinning. He chuckled to himself, rubbing the back of his head. He glanced at her, "You know, I can usually handle my liquor, but right now I just- You're really pretty, y'know?" His eyes wandered all over her, leaving their perpetual trail.

Seika just smirked, doing different poses as she looked at him, amused at his current state, "You really think I'm pretty? Why, how kind of you, you little rascal." She ran her fingers through Hikaru's hair, and he leaned into it, grinning goofily. The ginger twin took another large swig from his drink. He was acting even loopier by the moment.

An hour and a half later, Hikaru was leaning heavily against the counter, surrounded by numerous empty glasses. He had a red nose, and flushed cheek, his hair all touseled and such. He was out of his coat, his shirt a little messy and his sleeves rolled up with a few top buttons undone. He was so cracked up at something Seika had said, pounding the table with his fist lightly. The before mentioned Seika was hanging off Hikaru's arm, seemingly permanently attached, like a scar or a leech.

Hikaru checked his watch, eyes bugging at the hour. He began to gather his things, standing up, "I gotta get going. It's super late right now."

Just as he was standing up, Seika pulled him back down in his stool. She smiled seductively at him, "What's the rush doll? Leaving so soon? Plus, you're in no condition to drive home." She moved closer to him, pressing into his arm. Her lips brushed his neck, getting that red lipstick on his collar, looking almost like blood. She kissed up to his ear, whispering, "No need to be going anywhere. I want to know you more..." Her voice became more velvety as she placed her hand on his knee, slowly easing it down his thigh. "I have a room upstairs in the hotel. Stay the night with me..."

Unfortunately for Hikaru, he didn't want to refuse. Fortunately for Seika, Hikaru didn't have the power to resist.

0o0

Hikaru awoke in a strange bed, in a dimly lit room with a head ache that could kill. He groaned, rubbing his head as he sat up, looking around. He saw the clock on the nightstand, and it read 8 AM. He shook his head, rubbing his temples, the sheets soft against him. Looking down, his eyes widening as he noticed that he wasn't wearing even a sliver of clothing. Gulping, he looked around, wondering what on earth might've happened.

Seika emerged from the bathroom, smiling at the sight of a half naked Hikaru in her bed. She walked over, straddling Hikaru, "Morning, stud." Their lips connected in a kiss, Hikaru staring ahead, no emotion shown. He was still very confused as to what happened. When Seika pulled away, she bit her lip, running her hands through Hikaru's hair. He noticed that even she was dressed less, in a black lacy lingerie piece that showed more than he was comfortable with.

Words left him as he stuttered, "W-What happened here last night? Between us?"

"How funny, Hikaru!" Seika titled her head back and laughed, "You needed to stay the night, so I let you sleep in my bed." She brushed her fingers under his chin, "You're an excellent lover, by the way."

Hikaru put a hand to his head, shaking it, "No... But, I'm with Haruhi."

Seika shrugged, leaning back, "Didn't seem to stop you last night. You couldn't keep your hands off of me. Like an animal, you were."

Hikaru just kept shaking his head, as if this were a bad dream that he could shake off. He refused to believe anything of the sort, "That doesn't sound like me... I was really drunk though... I just can't believe that we..."

"Had sex?" Seika unlocked her phone, showing him a picture of them lying together in the bed in a very intimate position. "It definitely happened, babe. Now come on. We need to get you home. You can ride in my car."

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The Ayanikoji limo stretched into the Hitachiin drive, with a now fully clothed Seika and Hikaru in the back. The entire ride, Seika had been infatuated with Hikaru's anatomy, and had chosen to give every single detail of their drunken night of love. Hikaru, closing his eyes, wished he didn't have to hear it.

The odd duo walked up the stairs together, entering the house side by side. They were met with an odd sight. Haruhi was on the couch, a blanket around her, and Kaoru at her side, hugging her close. He was rubbing her back, frowning. "It's alright. It's over."

As soon as Haruhi caught sight of Hikaru, she jumped up, running to him. She collided to his body, hugging him tight. He didn't move, barely even acknowledging her. She looked behind him and saw Seika, and her happiness melted away. She backed up, shaking her head. "What's she doing here?"

Seika came up by Hikaru, pressing herself against him as she locked their arms. She smirked at Haruhi, talking to Hikaru. "Haven't told her yet, honey?"

Haruhi blinked, and it took her a moment before asking, "Tell me what exactly...?"

Before Hikaru could even begin to answer, Seika did it for him, "The face that we made love last night. More than once. I mean, I couldn't just leave the poor man begging."

Haruhi looked as if a brick wall hit her. No, more like a freight train. She was pale, all the life draining from her face. She looked so little and frail in that moment, as if she would break. She shook her head, "No..." She didn't want to believe it just like Hikaru hadn't.

Hikaru said nothing, staring off to the side. Kaoru was beside Haruhi now, looking disgusted over at his brother, "Really bro? What the hell? Haruhi was attacked last night, and you're sleeping with some tramp?"

The word 'attacked' caught Hikaru's attention, and he met Kaoru's eyes, "Attacked? By who? Are you okay?"

"Jaga snuck into my room last night," Haruhi answered, leaning into the gentle twin and staring at the ground. "He pinned me and started taking off my clothes... He almost raped me. And he would've gotten away with it had Kaoru not walked in." She shook her head, eyes closing as she thought back to the memory.

Hikaru sucked in a breath, feeling completely horrible at this point. His girlfriend was in danger, and he hadn't helped at all. He really felt ashamed now.

Then, suddenly, a weak voice emerged, "It can't be true." Hikaru's head snapped up, looking for who said it. It had come from Haruhi, who was now standing tall and staring at Seika dead on.

Seika raised an eyebrow, looking judgemental as she rubbed Hikaru's chest, "Excuse me?"

"It can't be true," Haruhi walked up to Seika now, getting up in her face. "Hikaru would never do something like that. He's mine, and he wouldn't have slept with the likes of you. Plus, you're known to lie about everything. So where's the proof?"

The red haired girl laughed, amused by Haruhi's little display. She simply pulled out her phone, flashing the picture. "There. See us together? That was an after shot. If you don't believe me, just ask him. Hikaru knows."

The guilty twin closed his eyes and looked away. He didn't want to see the betrayal in Haruhi's eyes. "It... It's true."

Haruhi now had tears in her eyes, a lump in her throat. She sniffled, wiping at her eyes with the heels of her hands, "So what? He was drunk. He won't stay with you. This won't him back!"

"Won't it?" Seika raised an eyebrow challengingly.

Kaoru came up behind Haruhi, wrapping an arm around her, frowning at the princess, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, I tested after, and I threw up this morning," She rested a hand on her stomach, grinning. "Looks like I'm pregnant!"


	23. As Lucifer Fell

It is scientifically proven that a wolf, or a dog, or any member of the canine species will not, at any stakes or costs, turn against its pack. A dog will never betray those that it has become one with, and it will not ever give up the trust it is so often given. Never to bite the hand that feeds it, a dog will not dip into a mode below that of a canine, just for a few measly scraps. Dogs are loving, and loyal, and once trust is given in their possession, it can never be tampered or frayed, for a dog will stay true to its pack. It is scientifically proven that a dog will never turn against its pack.

That's why I was always so confused when girls called their bad boyfriends a dog. It's an insult to the canine, in my opinion. A dog is loyal, and loving, and cares for its pack before even itself, and will do anything to please its master. In that way, a dog is like a slave, obeying commands and trying to appease its pack with grade A performances. It is a specimen of excellence, lean muscles and intelligence, welcoming every task with no complaint or hindrance. As I said before, dogs are slaves to their packs.

Dogs should not even be brought into the equation. It's a simple law of heartbreak, and to bring an animal of such repute into it is ludicrous. When you are dumped by the one you hold dear, he does not equate such a highly regard mammal such of that as a dog. Bad guy plus heartbroken girl does not, cannot, and will not equal a dog. Whoever conjured up such a peculiar theory was thinking so utterly far fetched.

Bad men are not dogs. A more appropriate animal is a cat, who's loyalty is sold to the highest bidder. Felines are very moody, and often prefer to be left on their own. They are very selfish beings, who will trade its owner for a warm meal almost every time. It is scientifically proven that a cat will bit its owner at least once in its lifetime.

Snakes are vicious and disloyal too. They do not adhere to one owner and would also like to be left alone in far off jungles and swamps. Snakes do not respond to kindness of its owners or do not remember exceptional favors such as petting and feeding. The King Cobra is one fine example of a disloyal, lonely snake. It would bite its owner no matter what. They do not exercise normal judgment. It is scientifically proven that a snake will always bite its owner.

So Hikaru was a cat, a merciless feline who pawed at my broken heart strings until the next owner who provided something better came along. And there was Seika, the snake who coaxed my twin with poison words and venomous prefixed intentions.

And I was sitting here, suffering from multiple self inflicted cat and snake bites, wrapped up in blankets on the couch, dressed down in pajamas. I haphazardly flipped through the channels on the television, though I knew nothing good was on. There never was. I sighed, looking down, imagining how  _we_  used to sit on this couch, laughing, cuddling, watching movies.

Kaoru saw my miserable state, and sighed from the kitchen. He brought me some tea, walking in and sitting down at my side, wrapping me in another blanket. Sliding his arm around me, he held me close to him, stroking my hair back. "You holding up today?"

Now this was my dog. Kaoru Hitachiin was my dog. He was the loyalist of them all, returning to his master even after betrayal. He was like a Labrador Retriever or a Bassett hound. No matter how bad I had hurt him in the past, he would return to my hand, pledge by my side, and never retreat.

I sighed faintly, and shook my head; "It's another bummer today."

"I can't believe him," Kaoru whispered. "It's just so not Hikaru."

Putting a finger over Kaoru's lips, I shook my head, "Ah, ah. That's not what we call him anymore. Remember?"

Kaoru rolled his eyes, but nodded, "Ah, yes. I forgot his new name is He Who Shall Not Be Named."

A smile came to my lips, and I gave him a nod of approval, "That's much better." Snuggling closer to his chest, I let him man the remote control while I was in charge of screening the eligible television shows.

This I also remembered. Kaoru and I, wrapped together in blanket's warmth, breathing in each other. He smells surprisingly like soft lavender, something comforting and soft to the senses. I closed my eyes, letting myself sink into the powdery scent of the softer Hitachiin. Kaoru was safe. He was warm and soft, like a marshmallow, and he smelled dizzily of flowers. He was hugs and kisses in the morning sun, smiles and holding hands. I missed that. That was safety.

Hikaru was spicy, smelling of cinnamon and peppers, even the taste of him hot. He was all sparks and wild burning fires and unwatched explosives. He was danger. He was like a thick piece of titanium: easy to cut you, hard to break through. Hikaru was lustful pants and whining wants in the late nights, smirks and groping hands. He was dangerous. Hikaru was my drug, and only now did I realize why drugs are illegal. Not for their side effects, but for their addictiveness.

"You're analyzing again," Kaoru noted, smiling gently ahead, eyes flicking over to me.

Blinking, I responded, "Analyzing? What?"

He put his finger under my chin and lifted my face, looking it over with his golden eyes, "You get that look on your face whenever you start using that big brain of yours. What were you thinking about?"

"Umm. I was actually thinking about us," I blushed faintly, pulling away from his thumb, just returning his look. "About how much I miss your… safety."

Kaoru chuckled, looking amused at my whole thought process, "My safety, eh? Is it that missable?"

"Heartbreakingly so," I swooned, putting a hand over my head and falling back.

His arms caught me, pulling me back against his chest, "I've been thinking a lot about our relationship. About how stupid my brother was." His tone grew serious. "He was blind to not see what you had to offer. And I would've never treated you like that."

The whispers nearly sent chills down my spine, and my eyes widened slightly, "I-I've been thinking too. About how our relationship got cut short by Hik- He Who Shall Not Be Named. And how much I miss it now."

"You miss it? Well, we may just have to remedy that," cupping my cheek gently, Kaoru leaned forward, and sealed the promise of us dating with a small lingering kiss.

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"What on Earth were you thinking? Were you even thinking?!" Tamaki shouted in anger, kicking out at a chair, sending it toppling across the room.

An ashamed Hikaru sat in the middle of the room on a chair, head hanging low, being chewed out by his club president. He looked like a man coming home from the office after a hard day of work. His hair was all ruffled, his clothing crinkled, sleeves rolled up, shirt undone at the top. His hands were in his lap, him leaning on his knees, not meeting the eyes of his upperclassman.

Now Tamaki was just making unintelligible gargles and grunts in frustration, tugging at his hair as he picked up a vase, about to throw it.

Kyoya, who was writing in his little black book off on a table on the side, raised up his pen at the last second, "Ah, ah, ah, not so fast, Tamaki. We have a limited fund for furniture, and if you keep breaking it, I'm going to add it to your tab."

Grumbling, Tamaki reluctantly placed the vase back down gently, turning his full wrath upon his commanding twin, "Pregnant. You got a girl pregnant! And IT WASN'T EVEN YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" He screeched, eyes wide with fury. "It just had to be Seika! Your ex! How messed up are you!"

Hikaru didn't answer, done answering questions that would just get him into more trouble.

Tamaki calmed himself once more, looking down at Hikaru with tired eyes and a weak mind, "Hikaru. You should know more than anyone the responsibilities of a child, the responsibilities that you aren't prepared for. And you should also know not to spend yourself without love. In fact, you should've waited until marriage, with someone that you really love with all your heart. Not the first unsightly trollop that offers herself to you," he slowly shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I am so disappointed in you Hikaru. I had a lot of faith in you not to screw this up. Yet you still seemed to have found a way."

Hikaru flinched. The 'disappointment' saying hurt him more than when Tamaki was raging and ranting, yelling his ears off. He thought of Tamaki as a father, and to hear that he'd crossed his trust, Hikaru now felt doubly horrible. His eyes became even more downcast, if possible.

"And think of what you put Haruhi through, my poor daughter," Tamaki continued, looking down at Hikaru once again. "You've cheated on her, and gotten her competition pregnant. I'm sure that felt just fine and dandy to her, don't you think? Not only do you have to apologize to her, but you have to get back in my good graces if you ever think of seeing my precious daughter ever again."

"I didn't mean to do it, alright?" Hikaru finally said, voice a little hoarse from not talking and just raw emotion. He rubbed his temples. "I don't even remember anything happening. I took a sip of my drink at the bar, and then the next morning, I wake up naked in a bed with Seika saying she's pregnant. It makes no sense! How can I not remember something that important! I would never do that intentionally! I would never hurt Haruhi…" He lowered his head once more.

Tamaki tilted Hikaru's chair back until the two men were face to face, the blonde focused, the ginger worried, "Well you did. You hurt her. And what happens to you next isn't my fault in the slightest."

With Tamaki rearing back to do what he had to and Hikaru bracing for impact, the two men were stopped once again by the raising of the pen, proving it was far mightier than the sword, "I know this may seem silly that I am the only one suggesting this, but what if Seika drugged Hikaru and then carried him up to her room where she stripped him and put her in his bed? There, she could've staged a picture, making it look as if they'd been intimate. And then in the morning, while he struggled with memory, she could've lied and sealed the deal by making him believe?"

Both the other men where quiet, letting the facts process in each one of their brains, the machines actually whirring. Both were shocked, obviously having not thought of that anytime sooner.

Kyoya rolled his eyes, not meeting theirs as he continued to write on, "I mean, even two  _idiots_ like yourselves could've thought something was up whenever the girl claimed pregnancy after merely hours after the affair. Every science book in the world will tell you that signs don't start appearing until two weeks later. Unless Princess Ayanokoji has magic ovaries that allow sperm to fertilize her eggs and speed produce a baby before the next morning, I suggest the baby is a ruse. Not to make you two sound even more stupid than you already are."

After hearing the news, Hikaru and Tamaki sprang to their feet, their faces carrying huge grins, and they cheered in victory.

"I'm still a virgin!" Hikaru exclaimed proudly, giddy at the fact.

"I'm still a good father!" Added Tamaki, excitement over flowing him.

Kyoya released a long sigh, rubbing his right temple with his forefinger to relieve pressure, "What idiots…. That's the oldest trick in the book."

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_Later That Evening_

(A/N:  _After calling Seika to meet him at his house, Hikaru arrives home with Kyoya and Tamaki. Kaoru and Haruhi are already present, and this is where the scene begins, with Seika's entering. Kaoru and Haruhi are clueless to the fact that Hikaru never cheated, and don't know what is going to happen.)_

Kaoru hadn't stopped glaring at this seemingly happy Hikaru escorted by a beaming Tamaki and a bored Kyoya, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. Any fool that could smile after breaking a girl's heart wasn't to be trusted. I myself wasn't grasping the whole point of us waiting eagerly by the door for Seika to arrive that a pack of house trained puppies, floppy tails wagging and tripping on our own paws. Especially for  _Seika_ may I repeat. But lo and behold, ten minutes later, and the doorbell rang.

Kyoya looked out the window, snapping his book to a close, "Perfect. The wicked witch of the west is here, and she parked her broom in the correct zone." He let the curtain fall back into place.

Hikaru rushed to the door, excited, some would say, and threw it open, grinning, "Aw, yes, Seika, come on in. There's something we'd like to discuss with you."

Seika, the witch herself, merely smirked, flicking a lock of red hair back over her shoulder, welcomed herself into the house, sitting down on the couch. The rest of us herded ourselves into the remaining spaces of furniture, just hungry to see how this ended.

One of the maids appeared at the side of the couch, hands folded tightly in front of her. She bowed, "May I interest you in drinks, madams and sirs?"

All, of course nodded, even Seika, who ordered a martini with extra flavor. "So, why exactly was I brought here, Hikaru?" Seika asked, crossing her legs as she looked over at the ginger.

Hikaru, still wearing that ridiculously goofy smile, placed a hand over on Seika's stomach, "We gathered here to speak of the baby, of course! It is my baby after all, and the host club is so excited to endorse it. We want to know so much from you, being the mother and all."

"Sounds… lovely," Seika forced a smile, obviously doubtful of the whole situation.

 _We're here just to talk about his baby?_ Ugh, my head already hurts. I might be sick. Standing, I thought I could be able to excuse myself, but I was caught by the bouncing blonde in the corner, smiling.

"You'll want to see this, Haruhi. I promise," Tamaki nodded, grinning nearly.

Confused out of my mind, I just silently took my place back beside Kaoru, watching on.

Seika put a hand to her stomach, smiling gently at it as if she could already see the baby, "It's just such a blessing. Especially knowing that it's yours, Hikaru. I've read so many pregnancy books and watched so many videos. And in nine months, all this hard work will pay off!" She chuckled arrogantly, her grey eyes catching mine, such gloating held there.

I turned my head, not wanting to attract her attention for too long.

"Your thoughts, Haruhi?" Seika asked, turning fully towards me now. "About mine and Hikaru's baby?"

My gaze fixed on Hikaru, and his jaw had tightened, eyes hard instead of loving as he gazed at Seika. I shook my head, "For both of your sakes, pray that the baby gets its looks from Hikaru."

Kyoya snickered. Seika shot him a death glare, and I could tell that Hikaru was forcing off a smile.

The maid then returned with drinks, bowing to each guest for their drinks. Seika took her with a snobby look, not saying thank you, just immediately taking multiple sips from the fluted cup.

Kyoya set his glass of wine down on the table, leaning on the back of the couch, "Interesting drink choice, Princess."

Seika swirled the little fruity little drink around in her palm, examining it, "Maybe I did. I was debating getting the cocktail, but I figured martini would just taste better right now."

"I'm just amazed," Kyoya said. "That you can have alcohol, though alcohol will kill the fetus forming inside of you. I'm sure that should've been on page one of pretty much any pregnancy book that you might've read."

Seika's eyes widened, and she set the drink down, giving a nervous chuckle, "Right. Then I suppose I shouldn't be drinking."

"As much as you drank, I'm sure the developing baby is already gone," Hikaru said, face cold and hard. "If there even was a baby to began with. But I suppose you should be okay, right? Because there never was one, was there?"

My ears perked up, and I gasped lightly, certainly not expecting that.

Seika cleared her throat, "Just what are you getting at?"

"You've lied, princess," Tamaki gave a little smile, looking like a man appraised a scared little bird with a broken wing. "And I think it's time for you to go before we call some higher ups about this."

"I know when I'm not wanted," Seika hissed at him, getting up and marching out, slamming the door shut.

I could've swore I heard Kyoya hum, "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead."

Hikaru now grinned at me, "See Haruhi! Seika lied! She drugged me and made me think all of that stuff for some joke, I guess. So that means that we can be back together now!"

His face looked so hopeful and happy, but I just shook my head, looking back at Kaoru. Kaoru intertwined our fingers.

"I'm sorry Hikaru. But that doesn't mean we can get back together…" I murmured as Kaoru put an arm around me. "I just got back together with Kaoru. I can't just break up with him because you're free again."

And like a bomb, I nearly heard all of those high hopes and good wishings crash to the floor, along with a flopping heart. Hikaru looked away, nodding, "I see. I understand. I'm just glad that you know the truth now." He gave me a smile. "That's all that matters."

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"You did what?!"

Godfather Akuma nearly roared in rage, slamming his large fist down on the decorated arm of the chair.

Seika flinched under his harsh yelling, wincing, "I couldn't help it, sir. They found out that I wasn't really pregnant. I couldn't fake it any more."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Godfather Akuma growled, "I just can't believe it. It is truly astounding how dense my underlings are."

Jaga was in no better position than Seika. He stood right beside her, still in his judgment for not being able to complete his assignment with Haruhi. He flinched at every harsh word, at every hard gesture.

"First, my idiot son must disgrace the Akuma name in failing every single mission I throw to him. I thought you were good at fetch, mutt! To act as such in my presence, to fail with the girl, you are my biggest regret in life!" The leader turned his full force onto Seika, "And you, streetwalking harlot, you cannot even convince idiots of a false pregnancy! You screwed up, and should've waited until it looked legitimate. Why, fallen morning star, have you brought me such lack luster henchmen?"

"It wasn't my fault! I was trying to get the job done quickly," Seika argued. Her cheeks were flushed red, angry and frustrated as she tried to state her point. She walked up the steps going towards the center throne.

The dark lion resting at Godfather Akuma's feet growled, but with a flick of his hand, the leader tamed his beast.

Seika resumed up until she was face to face with her leader, jabbing him in the chest with her finger, "All you've done is sit around like a lazy old man and make teenagers do all your work! Some all powerful syndicate man you are!"

The Godfather stood on his own two feet now, towering over poor little Seika. With his silver eyes narrowed, he reached out, grabbing a fistful of her hair, raising her until her face saw into his own. "Oh, my dear, dear girl. How stupid you've been. This sure is an inconvenience, what you're forcing me to do next." He ran his tongue over his teeth, sneering to show off the metal fangs he had adorned.

Seika's eyes grew in fear, and she winced at her hair, struggling to get fear, tears pricking her cheeks, "B-But, I come from royalty! People will know if I disappear!"

With such precise movements, Godfather Akuma leaned forward, and whispered, "I can make them disappear too."

With as much lethality as a lion, he clamped his jaws down around Seika's neck, his silver teeth tearing the flesh, blood blossoming on both of their clothes. She gasped for air, the sound wet and gargled as the blood entered her throat, and her body twitched, still slightly fighting for freedom. With a savage twist of his head, a sickening snap was heard, and Seika's body stopped twitching. Godfather Akuma let the limp girl fall to the floor, running his tongue over his teeth and lips, cleaning the blood off his skin. He spat the remains of her throat down on the girl's corpse, blood now soaking his shoes as his lion lapped up the pool thirstily. Blood dribbled down the leader's chin, clotting in his goatee and soaked in his clothes. He had his head tilted back, giving a harsh gritting laugh at his kill. And so the lion caught the gazelle.

"You've failed me again. May Lucifer have pity on your soul," Godfather Akuma said down to her corpse, and then curled his lips in a sneer, "Get this trash out of my sight. I hold no more desire to look at it. And everyone out of my chambers."

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Jaga stumbled back to his room, almost as if drunk. He was terrified. This certainly wasn't the first time he'd seen his father rip out a person's throat, and it for sure wouldn't be the last, but that wasn't what was bothering him. He couldn't stop thinking of Haruhi. And about what he had almost done to her.

Sure it had been an order, a mission from his father, one he couldn't believe at that, and he still was on edge about it. He never wanted to hurt Haruhi, or do anything bad to her.

He had gotten to her room late in the night, the bang of the shutters giving him away. She sprung from her bed, and that was when he had pounced, pinning her back down. Jaga had thought of himself as a steel, thinking he would've been able to do it. But as soon as he caught a glimpse of Haruhi's terrified round little face, he'd retreated, not able to even stand himself, feeling filthy. He shook his head, just wishing that he could've apologized in some way.

Opening the door to his room, he was surprised to find it well lit and not dark like usual. He also found it weird that there was a person on his bed, petting his jaguar. Another thing he found weird was that this person was a girl, a girl he knew all too well.

She looked over, red hair flouncing over her shoulder as she smirked up at him, fiery eyes narrowed, "Welcome back, kitty. Miss me?"

Time seemed to slow for Jaga, and he blinked several times, mainly to check if this were a dream. The woman in front of him was none other than his long last first love, Valerie. He remembered the last time they met, in an airport, with Valerie moving to America and Jaga being wounded that he was losing his best friend. He had years to make up for.

Jaga practically launched at her, tackling her to the bed, kissing her straight on the lips, hands finding any part of her to hold onto. He was kissing her lips, her jaw, her neck, anything within reach. He grunted when he felt her press a knife towards his crotch before whispering into her ear, "Slow down, kitty. Wouldn't want to have to neuter you."

Coming back into civilization, Jaga sat up, clearing his throat. Valerie leaned up on her elbows, twirling the knife around her fingers, smirking up at him, "It's bad enough that you didn't kiss me back at the airport, but now you're just attacking me. You animal."

Her voice was like silk, slow and sultry, just the way Jaga had thought of it back then. Valerie was short, not tall, but she was slender enough that she made it work for her, legs long for such a tiny girl. She reached a manicured hand over, ruffling the dark folds of Jaga's hair. Jaga purred obediently, "What are you doing here? Are you the guest?"

"That would be me," she nodded. "I came for my uncle's funeral, and I thought that you wouldn't mind hosting me here for a while, now would you kitty?" With each word, she was drawing him nearer, a finger hook in the neck of his shirt.

Jaga gulped, and shook his head, voice a little shaky, "Nope, nope, I-I wouldn't mind at all."

"Good," Valerie smirked, pulling him down with her on the bed.

By the way things were going, and how much they had to catch up on, Jaga knew that tonight would be a very interesting night indeed.


	24. Safety

Jaga and Valerie had been tangled in that bed for hours, just sitting and talking, and sometimes when either of them was feeling a little brave, they'd do a little more. They swapped stories of their past lives away from each other as often as they swapped spit at this point; that was very often now. Tender embraces and saucy secrets were on the menu for this more than friendly sleepover, and the two almost lovers were about ready to take the almost out of the equation at this point.

"How was America?" Jaga asked, nibbling on her earlobe as his arms tightened around her waist, drawing her up against him. The blanket was over them, having been like that haphazardly once they had rolled, and the sheets were all tangled between them and intermingled. Her long and flawless legs had no problem in wrapping around his waist in a chokehold, making sure he stayed close to her body at all time. Skin against skin, heart against heart, they were breathing as one.

"Boring," Valerie purred, her fingers playing with Jaga's hair, eyes fluttered to a close. "All of the Americans were fat and pompous blowhards who were all talk and no bite. And don't even get me started on the traffic. Unbelievable." Her hands slid down his chest and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt before pushing hard and managing to roll them over. She was now straddling him, smirking down at her little flustered Jaguar. The fiery Akuma looked stunned at her strength, eyes wide with shock, checks rosy on his skin with his hair all over the place and his hands above his head. Her palms glided across his chest, and she pressed her lips in gentle kisses along his jaw. "How about you be a good little kitty and tell me about what I've been missing at home?"

Jaga gulped, his hands flexing at her waist, playing with the little skirt that she had on, letting his own eyes close. "Not much that you've missed. Dad's still crazy, on killing sprees. The usual. He still likes Kyoya better."

"Strange, because I never thought Kyoya was better than you," Valerie spoke softly, her lips ghosting from his jaw to his neck, to his collarbones. "That boy was too stiff for his own good. No fun at all, nothing like you, kitty."

With calloused fingers, Jaga faintly touched the already bruising hickey that he'd supplied his short term guest with, "Well thanks doll, but your opinion is a little biased, don't you think?" He made a little squeak as the girl kissing him suddenly bit his sensitive neck lightly, and he blushed, rubbing the sore spot.

Valerie raised her head, giving a cheeky grin and her best 'guilty-as-charged' look, "What makes you say that, babe?" She asked innocently.

The boy rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he pushed her off of him and on to the bed space beside himself. There, his arms wrapped around her again, and he half pinned her, half hugged her, but all of it was intimate. His leg was between both of hers, his hands on her waist or whatever they could reach. He inched down the strap of her tank top to expose her shoulder and he fit his lips against the succulent skin there, "Tell me about this gang I had heard about you joining," Jaga prompted, gazing up at her with his venomous green eyes.

Valerie purred, tipping her head back, both of her hands gripping onto the back of his shirt and pressing him closer to herself. "Well, you know how I was sent of to my grandfather's to be in the family business? Newsflash, I sucked at the family business…" She paused, furrowing her brow and biting her lip as Jaga licked over a sensitive area next to her collarbone. Then she continued, "There was this local mob, nothing big. They were called like Saints or something like that. But there was a guy there, boss's son, wanted me to marry him. He was hot too, wouldn't have minded becoming a Saint for him."

Hearing his crush speak of another guy so freely made the young Akuma pause. He rested his chin on her shoulder, looking up at her now like a little kid getting told a bedtime story by an unfaithful aunt who tries to be hip and completely messes up the dialogue. "So, why aren't you married to him? Why come back and throw it in my face?"  
Seeing a spark of jealousy in her lover, she gave a small smirk, her lethal little orange eyes watching him out of the corner, and she chuckled. Running her fingers though his hair, she forced him to look into her face. "Well, if only you'd let me finish darling. Pretty boy got shot making rounds for his daddy, and poof goes the marriage proposal. So look who's free on the table again?" Her eyebrows perked, and she put a hand on his chest, pushing him onto his side. Rolling onto her side as well, she moved closer, pulling the blanket up around them. Her cheeky little smirk reached his eyes, and his anger melted away.

He grumbled, "You better be available, little missy, I don't want to be kissing on a taken woman." His strong arms encircled her, and their legs slide together in the heat of the room.

Her gentle pink lips placed small lingering kisses all over his collarbone, and she made it clear that she wasn't going to be clear of it until the collarbone was scathed from the battle. "So what about you, good looking? Tell me about your love interests. Surely you've had some."

"Well, I have had one," Jaga gulped, averting her eyes on the sore subject.

Valerie raised her eyebrows are she continued her work, "Only one? How modest of you. Do tell."

Closing his eyes and turning his head the opposite direction, he released a slow sigh, "Haruhi Fujioka. I don't know what it was about her, but maybe it was the way that she didn't want me, or maybe it was the way she didn't care. She intrigued me more than anything. She's much like you in that area." He ran his hands down the red head's back, warming it lightly against the cool chill of the fan. "She has no interest in me, but boy she fascinated me. And I feel very bad about some of the things I had to do to her…"

Jaga's eyes opened as he felt the woman beside him move so that she could get a better look at him. Valerie's illuminating optics focused on the boy above her, and she asked softly, "Did you have any romantic or serious emotions about this girl?"

"Well… Not really. More lustful than loving, you could say," Jaga confessed.  
"Do you still have those silly boy feelings that all of you silly little boys get?" Valerie asked, batting her lashes.  
Jaga couldn't help but forfeit a small smile at that, "No ma'am."

The clever red head then smirked, "Good. Then I'm not worried about her at all." She moved up, giving the boy a small and soft kiss.

The kiss was gladly returned, and Jaga smiled, looking down at the girl in his arms as he opened his eyes.

Valerie's lips twisted up in a side smirk, and she looked up at him playfully, "Hmmm. That kinda reminded me of how we left the last time. Only back then, you didn't kiss me back, you little tease."

"Hey," Jaga challenged, "That's only because you didn't give me any time to react. What was I suppose to do? I was young and this hotter than hot girl was suddenly all up on me, kissing me. And then you were off again. I never had any chance!"

Grabbing the subtle curls at the nape of Jaga's neck, Valerie pressed their foreheads together, their noses sliding along each other, "Well now you do. And I suggest you take it."

Without hesitation, their lips collided in a much more passionate kiss than the previous one. Their bodies moved as one, flowing and being as one as they did so. His large hands moved down from her waist, going to grab onto her backside and to gently cup her thighs. But he didn't get that far.

Valerie pulled away, hitting his chest lightly with a knowing smirk, "Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast, naughty boy. There shall be none of that tonight." Sitting up, she turned off the lights, lying back down and rolling over so she faced away from him. Snuggling in with the blankets, she made a soft noise, "Goodnight. Oh, and if you try anything while I'm asleep, you'll have to take that up with Hakai."

As if on command, the inky jaguar moved from the foot of the bed, stretching out beside Valerie like a large teddy bear, green eyes ablaze in the night.

Jaga scoffed and rolled his eyes, scooting closer and wrapping his arms around the skinny waist of his lover, "Oh sure, like  _my_ pet is going to bite me."

As if to prove his point, Hakai hissed and snapped at Jaga's fingers, growling warningly, muzzle scrunched.  
Jaga shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe it. Betrayed by my own kitten. This is a sad day. It really is."

"Just shut up and lay down," Valerie chuckled, which was exactly what they did.

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(A/N: And now we go off to Haruhi and Kaoru.)

It hadn't been long since that whole pregnancy sham went down, but for Kaoru and I, we chose to take the now available time and build on our relationship. We soon found that we had more in common than we first thought, and it was nice dating the mellow twin. The nice one. The  _safe_  one.

We were currently at a lovely park, resting under a cherry blossom tree. The scenery was beautiful: the bleeding sunset, the fallen cherry petals, the authentic Japanese bridges and small towns. A small stream snaked through the park and the little shopping center, and I couldn't help but think how pretty and quaint the town park seemed to be.  _Safe._

I was alone at the moment, stretching out my legs as I leaned my back against the trunk of the tree, watching out for my little orange haired twin as he bought us some ice cream from the local vendor. The thought of the idea was so normal. Another petal fell from the tree's limbs, and it seemed to whisper a word.  _Safe._

Shaking my head free of the petal, a cast a smile up in the direction of my twin as he sat down next to me. He gave me my ice cream cone and a napkin, wrapping his arm around me as he chatted about different things. He smiled.  _Safe._

That was the only downside to Kaoru. He was safe. He was the safe twin. I knew I could be happy with him, and that I could be with him. But Hikaru was the wild twin. He was unpredictable, and I liked that. Perhaps that was his Achilles' heel as well, but I was completely blind to the flaw. If this date had been with Hikaru instead, it would've gone differently.

We would've been walking around when all the sudden he disappears, leaving me under this beautiful tree. Then he'd surprise me with an ice cream cone. Knowing him, he would've only bought one so we'd have to share, opening up many new kissing opportunities. And he wouldn't have cared if the ice cream ended up dribbling down our arms, and we'd have to clean each other under the dying sun's super vision. And we would've made a mess, smearing ice cream on each other's faces and kissing each other with creamy white lips. And that was what made it fun. That he was  _not safe. Unpredictable._ And I liked that.

I let out an internal sigh. And here was my flaw. Not being able to stop comparing Kaoru to Hikaru. I knew they were two completely different people, even an idiot could tell that, but I kept holding them to the same standards. And this was a flaw that was fatal.

Shaking my head to clear it, I set some new rules for myself. I must stop comparing them. They aren't the same, and shouldn't be judged as so. They deserve fair judgment. And secondly, I shouldn't even be thinking about Hikaru while I'm dating his brother. It's only the polite thing to do.  _That sounded like a remark that Hikaru would say…_  Oh… This one is going to be difficult. Thirdly, I should give Kaoru my undivided attention, and give him the same chance that I gave Hikaru when we were going out.  _This was kinda ironic seeing as I wasn't even listening to a word my boyfriend was saying._

I immediately tried to tune in, catching on in the middle of his sentence: "-and the vendor was so nice. Gave me this half off just because I said it was for my beautiful girlfriend. Can you believe that?" Kaoru asked, smiling gently at me.

Nodding, I put on a half baked smile as I tried to jump into conversation, "Yeah, that's insane. He must've thought I was pretty gorgeous."

"Well you are," Kaoru said gently, pressing his palm against my cheek.  
I leaned into his hand, the corners of my mouth lifting, "Thank you, love."

A voice in the back of head popped up like a red flag,  _Hand on the cheek. Safe. Hikaru would've kissed me._  As much as I tried to push this sixth sense out of my head, there it remained, and that's where it would stay until it could be properly dealt with a.k.a never.

Kaoru was watching me, the smile remaining on his face, but the light in his eyes slowly faded. He stood up and reached out for my hand. "Come on. Let's take a walk on the bridge."

Blinking, I slowly nodded, sliding my palm into his and we were off to the bridge. That's when Kaoru began talking, "I can see it in your eyes. Ever since you broke up with Hikaru, you've been missing him terribly, haven't you?"

I sucked in a breath, not expecting that. I shouldn't have been surprised. Kaoru was good at reading people just like I had grown to be. Slowly, I let myself nod bashfully.

"That's what I thought. And that's fine. I went into this relationship knowing that you would still be addicted to him. Hikaru is the one that all of the girls like anyway," Kaoru just gave that same smile, eyes closed, as if he'd been through this a thousand times, and the thought made my heart ache.  
I began to ramble, trying to explain myself, "No, no, Kaoru, it's nothing that you've ever done, or anything wrong with you, I swear-"

And that's when I felt a soft pair of lips join with mine, and I blinked, astonished to find that I was being kissed. Kaoru put his hands on my cheeks, holding me there as he gave me such a shockingly gentle kiss at such an odd time. Slowly, Kaoru pulled away from me, stroking my cheeks with his thumbs. He gave me that same heartbreaking smile, and I wasn't sure which heart it was breaking more, mine or his.

"I love you," Kaoru said softly. "But let's go find Hikaru."

And before I could register, everything went black.


	25. Friends

I blinked open my eyes slowly, breath coming out in short pants, and the world around me was just as it had been earlier when I left consciousness. Black.

Swirling lights caught my attention up above, making my head spin as they flickered and wavered, failing in their contract to provide any good lighting above the scene.

I was so dizzy, skin slick with sweat, matting my hair down to my scalp and nausea wracked me in sudden waves. I leaned my head back as a sudden rush traveled through me and a gasp forced its way through my lips, accompanied by a disgruntled groan.

"She's awake," A gruff voice warned, barking out at the two others standing by the car.  
Shaking out my head, I tried to raise it and examine what was going on. Above me to the left towered a giant of a man, nothing but beefy arms and thick corded muscles. He sneered down at me, a scar webbing across his cheek and the side of his face, going into his hairline. He had dark eyes, and a shaven head, a bulky nose occupying most of his face. A raggedy old wife beater clung to his torso, his bottom half covered with thick canvas pants and oily black combat boots, scuffed from dirt and struggles. The handle of a gun glinted from his waistline, sparking dangerous imaginations of what was really happening here.

Behind him were the two accomplices by the car, one tall and covered head to toe in black leather, the other crouched and lanky. The tall one reeked of cologne and hairspray, even from this distance, and an underlying wispy smoke smell, implying he had recent encounters with cigarettes. The shorter one wore a black cloak with a silver swirling skull on it, the hood drawn up so his face was cast in shadows. Tan bandages spiraled up both of his skinny arms, and he wore baggy pants tucked into wooly boots. He was laughing like a madman, almost giddy in his work.

Both of the men were kicking and punching something to get into the trunk of their car. I heard a very distinctive voice shouting from the opposing side, and with an appalled feeling, I suddenly knew what their work was. They were busy stuffing Kaoru back into the trunk.

"Let me out!" Kaoru shouted, thrashing within the interior. "Haruhi! Get away from her! Let me- OW!"

The smaller man scampered up onto the car, shoving the hood down on Kaoru, laughing as he did so, "Hear that Viper? The little kitty said meow! Hahahah!"

The taller man, obviously Viper, growled, "Hey, shut up, Dark. He's still movin'!" He punched Kaoru in the nose, making him fall back a little, the twin's arm hanging over the side. Viper pulled the hood up and slammed it down repeatedly, over and over on Kaoru's arm until the ginger released a gurgled scream and the arm gave with a sickening _crunch._

I winced and found myself looking away, not able to view the carnage of the scene. Viper shoved Kaoru deep inside the trunk, slamming it shut, and then turning and leaning on it, crossing his arms across his chest. Grumbling about arrogant children, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a metal lighter, huffing at the nicotine and smoke. It looked like a serpent leaving his lips, the smoke curling wickedly into the sky. The snake himself smirked at me from behind his thick shades, chuckling darkly at his deeds. The animalistic man behind him plopped down and sat crosslegged on the hood, holding his knees and laughing, rolling around slightly. They were quite a pair, the snake and the madman.

Blowing out more smoke, Viper snickered, "All eyes on you, Blade."

The giant in front of me, obviously named Blade, turned back to me, glowering down at me. Now to his nickname, I spotted a large, almost machete of a knife attached to the man's hip. It had a wickedly sharp blade from what I could see peaking out of the scabbard, and it's hilt was composed entirely of bone, aside from the green jewel encrusted in the pommel.

Blade growled, the sound coming from deep in his chest, and he scowled down at me again. "You've caused us a lot of trouble little girl. You understand? Our boss said not to hurt you… But sadly…" Blade smirked, a horrible thing like a shark grinning at you before eating you, and he unsheathed that horrible knife. "We got a new boss. And our peaceful boss isn't here. Oops." He breathed, sliding the blade across my chin, blood trickling down my neck. I flinched at the almost invisible touch of the knife, and then the burning.

Trembling in the chair, I clenched tighter onto the arms, the plastic ties doing a fantastic job of digging into my wrists. Sitting up a little straighter, I tried not to show fear as I spoke, steadying my voice, "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

A light flicked in his eyes, and I wasn't entirely sure if it was pity or surprise, but I was positive that it wasn't going to help me get out of anything. Blade leaned forward, his yellowing teeth shown in an ugly sneer, eyes narrowed and face split by that scar. His breath hit my face, rancid and smelling of trash, "You really don't know, do you?" He then chuckled, the sound like boulders rumbling together. "Oh, then this'll be so much fun." Sliding his fingers into my hair, he took a fistful, pulling my face up so it was looking directly into his. I bit my lip at feeling the blade dance across my skin. "I'll enjoy slicing you up into tiny pieces… I wanna watch you bleed, little girl."

"Me next, me next!" The hunched maniac howled from the atop the car, doing a little jig of excitement and cackling.

Blade growled, gritting his teeth together. "Shut up a second, Dark. I'm thinking."

The little man, Dark, was bouncing in anticipation, biting his blackened nails and making whining sounds like a dog who wanted so badly to chase a rabbit.

Blade slid his knife across my cheek, and I gasped at the sharp metallic kiss, it stinging horribly before warm liquid oozed from the thin line, already spilling down my cheek.

That was when a fourth person appeared from the shadows, completely catching me off guard. I heard him before I saw him, the sound of his voice as strange as listening to someone talk through water. It was odd, and off beat, seeming like it was stretched in some places, very monotone and breathy, "Now, now… That's no way to treat… A lady, Blade. You—Are scaring the young girlllllll."

The voice sent shivers up my spine, and I knew then what Eve must've felt when the snake whispered corruption to her, because this voice had the makings of true and utter evil. And when he stepped into the light, all my fears were confirmed.

The man couldn't have been that much older than Blade, maybe it was that, or he was just creepy enough to appear baby faced. He was tall and gangly, all bones and elbows, skinny as can be. His skin was stretched tight over his bones, all tin and waxy, pale white in such a contrast with his oily black hair. Grey teeth like tombstones and eyes so dark they looked pitch in the dim lighting, making him seem more and more like an apparition than a human being. Though you'd be a fool to think of him as mortal in the first place. He wore regular enough clothes: a white shirt with a ridiculous smiley face on it, and a long sleeved undershirt with some baggy jeans and a spiked belt. When he smiled, it was creepy, and he held his eyes wide, tilting his head to the side a bit. It was like looking Death in the face, yet you knew your fate was far worse than his name.

"Hello, Haruhi Fujioka," The man drawled, stepping closer as if the floor were a chessboard and each move was strategic. "I've been watching you for some time. Observing you, and your father, Ryuji, better known as Ranka. And all of your friendssssssss."

Something about him itched in the back of my mind, and suddenly, I remembered, "You… You were the one sending me those letters so long ago…"

The twisted grin on the sickly man's face grew. "Correct, young Haruhi. Hello, Haruhi Fujioka. Yes, I have been the one sending you those letters. I want to be," He paused, tilting his head a little, and giving a completely emotionless laugh. "your friend."

The sight of him 'happy' made me think of him as some disgusting parasite rather than a human being, much a like a cockroach who won't die no matter how hard you squash it. "That… doesn't sound very good…"

The grin on his sick face, faltered, and then he looked around at the others, shaking his head. He plucked the cigarette out from between Viper's lips, holding it out like a fragile thing, "I'd never hurt you. You're my closest asset now that a friend has been lost… You know. I knew your mother, Miss Fujioka. We wanted her to be my friend. She made a bad choice, a very bad choice, and sadly," He looked her, and raised the cig to his mouth, putting it out by rubbing it on his tongue. Flicking the cigarette to the ground, he frowned, as if disgusted, not with the taste but with his sentence, "time ran out. We don't want that to befall you, Haruhi. Do you?"

I don't think I've ever shaken my head faster, fear gripping me, "No! Never!"

His fists clenched by his sides, and I swore I heard the equivalent of leather tightening. Angrily, he gritted his teeth, and his hands clasped around my head, lifting me, and the chair dangling beneath me, up into the air. I cried out, my neck straining from the weight. His face was right in front of mine, breath cold, and airy as it touched my face, some spit mingling with it, "Give me an answer now… Don't. Be. Rash. Be… My… Friendddddd." He snapped his teeth in my face, inches from my nose, and he grinned, eyes wide as he awaited my answer. His obsidian eyes were so dark, it was like drowning in suffocating depths.  
I closed my eyes, wanting to look away from that horrible gaze, "No! Ah- Ow! Let me go!"

Groggily, the trunk opened a little, like a gaping mouth, and Kaoru popped up, "Don't you dare…. Touch her…"

"Shut up," Viper sighed, hitting Kaoru in the temple with the handle of his gun. Growling from around the cigarette, he smirked as the nice twin crumpled down again, and Dark bounced, closing the trunk again.

The leader's smile was twitching, the skin around it convulsing, and he slowly began to look angry, mouth turned down, eyes on fire. He dropped me back down on the ground, jarring me back to reality. I gasped, looking back up at him. He spread his arms wide, throwing his head back, Adam's apple bulking against his tight skin, "Oh. I see. So, it seems that one of our friends has lost their way…. Hmm. My friends." He rotated his head to get all of the henchmen in view. "Brothers. How are we going to call back our long lost friend who has strayed off our wayward path? Destroy her!"

The man seemed to disappear back into the shadows, and the other three surged forward, crowding me. Blade clicked his teeth in my face, itching to slice me open, "It'll be fun to watch you scream, little girl."

Feeling brave, I spit in the giant's ugly scarred face.

Reeling back in anger, Blade, swiped his face clear, and backed away, "I'm done with her, hey Viper, Light her up!"

"Mmmm," Viper cupped my chin, squishing my cheeks together. His other hand ran down along my forearm, "I love your skin. So smooth. I wonder what it'll sound like as it burns…" Taking the cigarette from him mouth, he eased the killer from his mouth to my arm, and almost in slow motion, I watched him burn a cylinder into my skin.

They laughed as my shrill scream filled the air. Tears sprang to my eyes, and flinched, my whole body tensing at the feeling of the ashes burning into my flesh.

Dark rocked forward on the trunk, holding up a finger as he presented his own ideal, "Ooh! Ooh! Idea! Idea! Why don't we just cut her up instead?"

As if in unison, Blade and Viper groaned then said, "Shut up, Dark!"

Viper stood beside me, smirking and chuckling under his breath. Next thing I know, the tall man crumples to the ground, reeling back from being punched. Another voice rang out, "None of you punks are touching her!"

My head leaned back, trying to glimpse the familiar person. Hikaru stood there, bathed in fury, eyes narrowed and teeth clenched. "And if you do, I'll tear you limb from limb."

New tears, ones of happiness filled my eyes, and I cried out gratefully, "Oh Hikaru!"

"Not so fast, pretty boy," Blade sneered, and as my eyes found him, I saw his arm extended, gun in hand.

Before I even had time to scream, his finger tightened on the trigger.

Before I even had time to think, I heard it embed into Hikaru's flesh.


	26. Welcoming Death

Twin Devils

Chapter Twenty-Two

(A/N: So how many of you were angry at the end of that last chapter X3? Come on, raise of hands?

Aw, well don’t fret young readers, all shall be revealed this chapter.

Twin Devils is coming to an end soon. How’s that feel?

Anyway! Happy reading!)

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Previously on Twin Devils

Viper stood beside me, smirking and chuckling under his breath. Next thing I know, the tall man crumples to the ground, reeling back from being punched. Another voice rang out, “None of you punks are touching her!”  
My head leaned back, trying to glimpse the familiar person. Hikaru stood there, bathed in fury, eyes narrowed and teeth clenched. “And if you do, I’ll tear you limb from limb.”  
New tears, ones of happiness filled my eyes, and I cried out gratefully, “Oh Hikaru!”  
“Not so fast, pretty boy,” Blade sneered, and as my eyes found him, I saw his arm extended, gun in hand.  
Before I even had time to scream, his finger tightened on the trigger.

Before I even had time to think, I heard it embed into Hikaru’s flesh.

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Turning my head, I watched with wide eyes as the bullet bit into Hikaru’s torso, blood exploding out as it made contact, burying into his skin.   
His eyes widened too, but I wasn’t sure if it was from the shock or the pain.  
It wasn’t until the fierce twin doubled over, clutching his stomach, and he released an animalistic guttural sound I didn’t register as human, blood spurting from his mouth that I was certain it was the pain. He stumbled over, draping himself on my chair, holding onto it for support.  
“Hikaru!” I gasped, eyes glued shakily to the blossoming red spreading wildly through his white t shirt, darkening as it ripened.  
Viper was beginning to get up, some of his own blood dripping from his nose before he snapped it back into place. He growled, his sunglasses now a little crooked, one lense broken to reveal a blinking eye, all his hatred concentrated on the weak Hikaru.  
The smoking man grabbed Hikaru by the collar, pulling him up onto his feet. “You stupid little lamb. Trying to pick a fight with the big dogs, eh?” He jabbed his thumb into the bloody wound, earning a painfilled moaned from Hikaru’s chapped lips. “Sucks to know you can’t win, doesn’t it?” Viper began to laugh, having fun twisting in more pain to stimulate the bullet wound.  
Tears streaming down my cheeks, intermingling with the dust, grime, and sweat, I yelled at them, struggling in my confinement, “Leave him alone! What do you people even want from me?!”  
Everything suddenly got quiet, and I heard every heart beat, every blood drop, and I felt every second slowly aging my body. They were all staring at me, and I made it a point to meet each and every one of their eyes. Dark’s light hazel ones, Blade’s muddy green ones, Viper’s one pale blue one, and finally I stopped at the Friend leader’s pitch black ones. His decaying teeth revealed themselves in an awful grin, and he just began laughing.  
The twisted man laughed and laughed, on and on, holding his stomach from the action. I’d never been so scared of another human being in my entire existence. He laughed in my face, leaning over me, “You just don’t get it, do you? I used to have a good business. Take in the orphans… Make them my friendssssss… Teach them of loooove… And in return, they’d commit certain, crimes, for me. But your mother…” His face twisted up in an unadulterated rage, and he clenched both fist tight, his ghastly skin drawing taut over his bones. “Didn’t think my business was right. Said it was eviiiiiiiill. You know how women can be. She took it to court, and I was thrown in jail! All because of her!” He was shouting at me, so close to me his saliva hit my face, and I felt his icy presence chill my skin. “I rotted in there! I was after her when I got out, but what do I find? She already died!” His breath came out in short, huffs of pants, and he grabbed me by my hair, taking out a wickedly curved black knife. “I wanted to spill her guts for locking me up. But in all her rudeness, she had to go and die. You’ll have to do in her place!”  
The knife lifted to stab me, and I knew by the crazed look in his eyes, he wouldn’t miss. Sudden and raging terror gripped my heart, and I was certain it wouldn’t release it until after it stop beating. Just as the knife started its descent, a hand reached out and grabbed the wrist that wielded it.   
“Uncle Vincent,” a cool voice teeming with dark fury spoke out. It belonged to the same person who threw the creepy pale man back. The knife clattered to the ground, and the man, Vincent, tumbled back, rubbing his wrist. A new figure stepped in front of me, and from the contours the light provided me, I saw those familiar narrowed green eyes. “It’s not nice to treat a lady like that.”  
Vincent’s eyes widened, and he stared at the new person. I smiled at his arrival, “Jaga… I’m so glad you’re here.”  
Jaga glanced over his shoulder at me, giving me a reassuring half smirk before turning his attention back towards his uncle, “Father said you’d be out of jail. I never realized that you’d be out so quickly. And that you’d be such a pain this early on.” His green eyes flicked to his three men, and he scowled. “I thought you three were loyal to me, not this junkie.”  
“Don’t talk to me that way, you ungrateful little-“ Vincent started, barking such orders at Jaga. He was interrupted by Blade, who stepped forward.  
“I’m sorry buddy,” Blade started. “But we get these orders to serve him directly from the big boss. This goes over your head.”  
Dark grinned, bouncing, “Over your head! Over your head!”  
Jaga rolled his eyes, “Right. Thanks guys. Grade A loyalty.” He turned to me, pulling a small switchblade from his pocket. Kneeling next to me, he worked on freeing me from the old wooden chair. Once I was free, I stood up, rubbing my wrists, and finally got a chance to look around. We were in an old run down parking garage, in a town unbeknownst to me.  
I heard footsteps running closer, and I turned, seeing who on Earth could be coming here to save us. My face broke into the goofiest grin when I saw those four familiar faces. The entire remaining host club, Tamaki, Kyoya, Honey and Mori padded up to the scene, all looking worried, all ready to swoop in and save us.   
Honey’s big round eyes spotted the blood around the fallen twin, and he frowned, “Hika-chan doesn’t look too good…”  
“You have to help,” I spoke frantically, unsure if I would be stopped by any of the four looming guard dogs behind me. “Hikaru’s been shot, and Kaoru’s in the trunk, not doing so hot either.”  
Tamaki wasted no time, struggling to get Hikaru on his back, nodding to Takashi, “I’ve got this one. You go get Kaoru.”  
“Yeah,” Mori grunted, dipping his head in a nod before going over to the trunk, slamming his large fist over it. It popped open, and he scooped the other twin out of it before returning to our side of the battlefield.   
Vincent was shaking his head slowly, eyes wide, mouth in a straight line. I backed up, feeling Kyoya put a protective arm around me. Vincent breathed, “We shouldn’t just let them walk out of here alive.” He turned, giving his three henchmen accusatory glances. “What type of help are you idiots?”  
Jaga cleared his throat, making his presence more prominent, standing tall, holding out an invisible challenge that he was going to protect us at all costs.  
Viper shook his head, already working on a new cigarette, “I don’t know if you can see that or not, but that’s Jaga standing in the way. We’re not going to fight our friend just to kill some stupid little highschoolers.”  
“I command you!” Vincent shouted, gritting his teeth, his pale face taking on a slight angry blush. “I command you to fight him.”  
All three of the henchmen flinched, and then slowly stood. They understood that disobeying Vincent was disobeying Godfather Akuma. And disobeying Godfather Akuma was welcoming death.  
Blade stepped forward, eyes sad, a frown gracing his lips as he reluctantly drew his knife, “I’m sorry Jag. But you know, it’s just business, nothing personal.”  
“Yeah,” Viper added, straightening his shades. “We’ll try not to hurt anything too vital.”  
Dark laughed, but he worried at his bottom lip, looking nervous, “No promises! Uh, haha…”  
Jaga took a deep breath, then turned to look at all of us. He made eye contact with each one of us, nodding, “You guys should find the exit pretty easily. I called the ambulance before I came here, just in case. It should be waiting out front. Good luck, and make sure those twins are all right.” His eyes paused on me, and he frowned, softening, “I am so sorry. For everything.” He turned away.  
I shook my head, “I forgive you, Jaga.” Along with the rest of them, we headed quickly towards the front entrance. Pausing, I noticed Kyoya frozen in place with Jaga in front of him, surrounded by looming hoodlums.  
Kyoya’s fists tightened by his sides, and he spurted out, “Jaga… Thanks… Brother.”  
Jaga’s form relaxed a bit, and he raised his fists, ready to fight. With a nod of his head, Kyoya wasn’t far behind us, running and running until we found the exit.  
We all tried not to flinch as we heard Jaga’s screams fill the abandoned space.

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Just as Jaga promised, an ambulance was whirring down the street, sirens blaring and all the bells and whistles as it hustled towards us. Examining the two twins, we had to examine who was going to get the ride in the ambulance.   
The medical vehicle zoomed up, the back doors busting open and two paramedics hopped out, running towards our injured.  
The main one looked rushing, stretching out the gurney, “Kids, who’s injured, we need to get them on the stretcher, pronto.”  
Seeing as Hikaru looked pale and was dripping blood and Kaoru was only sporting a few bruises and a broken arm, we let Hikaru get the ride in the E.R. machine.  
Tamaki patted me on the back, “We got Kaoru. Ride with Hikaru, we’ll meet you up there. Be strong.” The boys took off towards their car and driver.  
I climbed into the back with the paramedics and a banged up Hikaru strapped to a gurney. Watching passively, I witnessed them ripping open his shirt, sterilizing the wound and injecting him with a sloppy IV(one that they had to redo twice because they blew a vein.)  
One paramedic, a dark skinned female glimpsed my wounds and rushed over, cleaning up some blood and treating that nasty burn on my arm. She gave me a small smile, handing me an ice pack, “Don’t you worry, ma’am, your boyfriend is going to be just fine. We’ll do everything to make sure he lives. The bullet did graze some organs, but it should be an easy job for our surgeons.” She scurried off to tend to Hikaru’s wounds.  
My voice had just found itself to tell the kind woman that we weren’t a couple when Hikaru stirred on the table, grabbing my hand swiftly. I jumped, startled at the action.  
Coughing, he wheezed in a breath lightly, eyes focused on me after a minute. He weakly gave me a half hearted little Hikaru smirk, “Haruhi.”  
I smiled, holding his hand close as if it were a precious object, kissing the knuckles chastely, “Hikaru… You idiot. You really scared me back there…. I almost thought you were dead…”  
“Nah,” He scrunched up his nose and shook his head, “Takes a helluva lot more than that old bee sting to kill me, sweetheart.”  
A fresh set of tears hit my eyes, seeing my Hikaru being brave, half his stomach missing, his arm bandaged, yet that silly little grin never leaving him, “Oh, you big goof…”  
He squeezed my hand, and the next words he said were escorted with hints of blood, “Haruhi… I love you… so much…” And with those words, his hand went limp in mine.

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(A/N: Hope you enjoy the chapter lovelies X3)


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